‘He hasn’t shown it lately’: Ten Hag names which United player ‘has to prove a point’ in Hojlund’s absence

Erik ten Hag will be expecting all of his forwards to step up to the plate in Rasmus Hojlund’s absence.

The Manchester United starlet has been hit with a huge injury blow in the midst of his prolific goalscoring form – seven in six league matches – that’ll now see him ruled out of action for two to three weeks.

His contributions have almost single-handedly opened up the possibility of the Reds claiming a top-four spot, a prospect that was entirely out of the picture over the Christmas period when they were sustaining defeats such as 3-0 to Bournemouth, 2-0 to West Ham United and 2-1 to Nottingham Forest.

As such, Ten Hag will now be relying on the likes of senior attackers Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Amad Diallo and Antony to fill the void, although Laurie Whitwell has suggested that 19-year-old Omari Forson could well pip his older counterparts to a starting spot against Fulham tomorrow afternoon, which would be his first-ever one in the Premier League.

Antony is one player that has severely underperformed this term, with him yet to register a goal or an assist after 19 appearances. 

Ten Hag demands more from Antony

Regarding whether he can count on his £86 million signing to provide the goods in the coming matches, Ten Hag told reporters today: “Yes, absolutely. 

“He has to prove a point, that he will do. And he has big potential. He hasn’t shown it lately, but I know what his talent is, and it’s about proving his talent, and it’s about him. And, yeah, he will probably get his opportunities, right. But, yeah, I think that was always the idea. 

“You have competition, and now he has to show himself on the training pitch, but also others, because we have opportunities there. With [Amad] Diallo returning from an injury, he’s doing well in the training. Omari Forson is doing well. So we have options to fill in those positions. And so it’s not set that Marcus Rashford has to play as a centre forward.”