Erik ten hag has sent a warning to Cristiano Ronaldo and his Manchester United team-mates he will not accept the World Cup as an excuse this weekend.
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The Portuguese legend missed the Carabao Cup win over Aston Villa on Thursday due to illness – just hours after his national team announced their squad for Qatar.
The United boss expects him to have recovered in time for the last United game before the break – the trip to Fulham on Sunday.
Ten Hag wants all his players to be focused on Craven Cottage rather than linking up with their national sides hours later.
Asked if Ronaldo will be ready, Ten Hag said: “I can’t guarantee that now and he was ill for the Aston Villa game.
“He can recover from that. It’s not a serious illness that takes days or weeks. “I think it is possible that he is available for Sunday and that he will be in the squad.
“I think the players are all aware of the importance of the game against Fulham and I will not take the World Cup into consideration.
“We play the best team and until Sunday it is the interest of Manchester United and just for Manchester United.”
Harry Maguire could find himself on the bench for the trip to Fulham with Lisandro Martinez and Lindelof expected to start.
But Ten Hag has assured Gareth Southgate that the centre back will be ready for the World Cup if needed.
The Carabao Cup tie with Villa was only his second start since September but Ten Hag said: “I think so, he’s ready, yeah.
“I see him every day in training, I see him in games. He came back from injury, but he’s ready to perform on the highest level.”
On Jadon Sancho, Ten Hag said: “It’s been up and down. He had some really good performances and I think he was in a good direction.
“But the last weeks he struggled with illness and then it’s normal that you don’t get selected because every manager will only take fit players to the World Cup.”
