Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag provided injury updates on Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Noussair Mazraoui after Saturday’s 3-0 win at Southampton.

The Red Devils weathered an early storm to outlast the Saints and secure an important victory on the south coast.

De Ligt broke the deadlock with a header just before half time, while there were also goals for Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho.

However, the defender was one of three players taken off by Ten Hag in apparent discomfort, alarming fans that the club could be on the verge of another injury crisis.

When asked about De Ligt and whether his issue was simply a spot of cramp, Ten Hag replied: “It looks like that, yes.

“At this moment he is not fit, he’s not at 100% speed. He needs the games to go up to it.

“We see glimpses now and once he’s there he will do much better. We are happy with him and especially today with his game.”

Ten Hag did concede that the club won’t be fully aware of the extent of Martinez and Mazraoui’s issues for a few more days.

“We had internationals early in the season, some are short in the pre-season, some come from intercontinental flights then when you have a 12:30 kick-off, you can struggle,” he continued.

“Hopefully it’s nothing serious and we have to assess today and tomorrow.”

United return to action on Tuesday at home to Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. There were hopes that Rasmus Hojlund, Luke Shaw and Mason Mount could make their returns from injury in that fixture, but Ten Hag suggested he will not risk the trio.

“Of course it’s an important period with many games to play – I think seven in 22 days,” he added.

“We need everyone and hopefully players are returning. It will not be the case for the next game, but hopefully in the next weeks they [Hojlund, Shaw and Mount] will return to the squad.”

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