Erik ten Hag conducted his press conference this afternoon ahead of the Community Shield against Man City on Saturday at Wembley (15:00 BST kickoff).

He spoke about several things concerning transfers, players and the main news of who might be unavailable.

Here we go again 😩.

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The manager mentioned to the media that all of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw are doubts heading into the Community Shield.

"Harry Maguire missed the game [against Liverpool] in a precaution, he is a question mark for Saturday."

"Victor [Lindelof] played, but he is also a question mark and so is Azza [Aaron Wan-Bissaka]. Luke Shaw too. They are all question marks and we have to see about [them] tomorrow."

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He also talked about those players who were on international duty and whether they could feature in this one. Erik ten Hag said that the club gave all the players individual training programmes during the off-season but that it's different for each player.

"We will assess them and make a decision whether they start, come from the bench or they don't play."

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Mason Mount is a player that ten Hag desperately wanted at United a year ago yet it remains to be seen where and how he will feature in this MUFC side.

The boss didn't say how or when the midfielder could play for United but did praise the former Chelsea man saying that "We know he is a high-class player and [he is] just bringing his skills in." He added that due to the injuries he suffered last campaign, he had a "very bad season." Fitness is the thing that matters most for Mason Mount.

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He also spoke about transfers and that "When we have news we will announce it." Erik ten Hag admitted that things have been "quiet" recently and that it's about doing the right things at the right times.

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The Dutchman talked about Jadon Sancho as well as the opportunity to win silverware against our noisy neighbors.

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The full presser is on manutd.com.

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Final Thoughts

These injuries man. These injuries...

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This means that at this moment only Lisandro Martinez and Jonny Evans are our available centre-backs. Martinez has been off since Argentina's Copa America win in mid July so whether he will be up to the required fitness remains to be seen.

Jonny Evans is a defender whose role is more of an emergency/rotational player rather than a potential starter yet, here we are. First game of the season and he could start. He too may not be fully at the races as he was ill in that last game of pre-season against Liverpool. Evans had to be taken off at halftime.

So our only two centre-backs may not be completely ready with one of them in Evans, being a 5th-choice 36-year-old.

Great 😐.

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It gets even better as we will potentially only have the one full-back.

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At least we know we can rely on Diogo Dalot. The Portuguese international is much like his counterpart and skipper Bruno Fernandes as the two of them are almost always ready. However, as they have also been on holiday for the past few weeks, they will probably not be entirely ready themselves.

What could this mean for that left-back spot?

At this moment, the only available left-back is youngster Harry Amass. A player with a lot of potential but is it ideal to be throwing him in so early into his career and against City?

Although with his qualities and how highly everyone rates him, perhaps he may be ready. It's not like we haven't had youngsters come into the team and do pretty well. That is what this club is built on.

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Still though, really disappointing to know that for such an important season, we cannot even rely on senior players to be ready for the start whether they're good enough or not and whether they should still be at the club or not.

I don't doubt also that as many have had just their first training sessions, we will see some rotation.

The manager spoke about Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho, I think at some point we will see both of them on the field with the likes of Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay. Maybe there will be some more youngsters as well given that many players will not be fit enough to play the full 90 and our squad is weakened with injuries.

Saturday just got a lot more interesting.

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Background Image: Luke Shaw's last game for Man Utd was the 2-1 win at Luton Town in February | Image: Ash Donelon via Manchester Evening News