Man United are dealt fresh injury blows with Mason Mount OUT of Arsenal clash and Luke Shaw suffering a new setback… but Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay all return to training

Manchester United have been dealt a new injury blow after Mason Mount withdrew from Sunday’s match against Arsenal and Luke Shaw suffered a setback in his recovery.

Mount made only seven appearances after a four-month absence due to a calf injury, but he was injured in training on Thursday. Shaw has not played since February, although Ten Hag is still confident the England defender will play the remaining four games of the season.

“Luke has had a setback in his process but there is still hope,” the United boss said. ‘Mason Mount missed training yesterday so he won’t be available on Sunday. It’s very unfortunate, very unfortunate. It is a symbol (of the season).”

Asked if he regrets not trying to sign Declan Rice instead of Mount, who has had an injury-riddled season since signing from Chelsea for £60m last summer, Ten Hag said: ‘He (Rice) is a very good player and definitely would have done that. mounted here. But I’m not unhappy with Mason. I am very happy with him, he is a very robust player. In the last four seasons he has had only one minor problem towards the end of his Chelsea career. He always played. It’s really bad luck and we’ve really missed him all season.”

There was better news for Ten Hag after Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay returned to training ahead of the match against Arsenal. The United boss confirmed that Lisandro Martinez also wants to play after recovering from a calf injury but has been held back.

Erik ten Hag confirmed that Luke Shaw had suffered a setback in his recovery from injury

“Licha came to me yesterday and wants to play against Arsenal on Sunday, but he is not ready yet,” said Ten Hag. ‘He’s desperate to play, he misses it so much and the team misses him. He wants to play, but he had three injuries this season. Now he is almost there, injury free, but now he has to get back to team training.

‘I will never gamble with a player, never. It’s about them, their future, the most important thing is their career. The club is the most important thing, but the player’s safety and health are at a high level.

‘Players fight to be available, they all try. This morning Bruno was on the field and Scott McTominay was back on the field. Rashford also trained this morning. We have to see how he recovers from this. Hopefully he will complete training tomorrow and be ready for Sunday.’

Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay were both back on the training field on Friday

Ten Hag stressed that he will put together a team to beat Arsenal and will not be influenced by the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25.

“We go into every match wanting to win, we don’t prepare for the next match,” he added. ‘Of course it is in the back of my mind, but the team wants to win and we will choose the best team for Sunday to win that match. I am not taking big risks with players now to win on Sunday with the risk that they drop out again, but it is not that different from a normal situation if you have not had the cup final.’