The Man Utd boss spoke to the press ahead of his team's third round tie against League One outfit Barnsley at Old Trafford tomorrow night.

After MUFC's 3-0 triumph over Southampton on Saturday, many spirits were lifted but with a tinge of concern as it appeared as though a few of the United players had some injury issues.

However, ten Hag says that Mazraoui, De Ligt and Martinez are all fit and ready to go for tomorrow's tie. These were the three major concerns from the game just over 48 hours ago.

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On Luke Shaw, the manager says that "he's progressing but not yet ready to be selected. He is progressing well." He added that they have a plan for when the left-back will feature again but that it all depends on the progress.

Other players that are injured and will not feature tomorrow according to the manager are Victor Lindelof, Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund.

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ten Hag says that "you will see tomorrow what the selection will be for this game" when talking about Manuel Ugarte. The new midfielder played his first game in a United shirt after coming on for Christian Eriksen in the final 20 minutes during Saturday's 3-0 win.

The Dutchman also discussed the importance of rotation and that he "hopes he has headaches" when it comes to selection as last season, the headaches he was having was due to the fact that he had "no players available."

"I have many players available and we can make a selection from game to game, definitely we have to rotate because we have to cover so many games."

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Antony is one of those players whom could feature as part of this rotation. The Brazilian has seen just the 1 minute of action this season after being brought on in the loss to Brighton. Much like his answer for Ugarte, Erik ten Hag was sly on his reply on whether Antony could play tomorrow: "Tomorrow you will see what the line-up will be. when the attitude is good and show performance in training then they will play."

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Having won this tournament in his first season, the MUFC manager discusses the importance of lifting silverware by saying that "it's about winning trophies" and that his side are "aiming for a trophy and we take it seriously."

On the Carabao Cup, as it is seen as the least major of the domestic trophies, Erik ten Hag feels that it is not so. "I wouldn't say it's insignificant." He mentions how all the other top clubs take it seriously as well as Liverpool are the current holders. "In football winning trophies is very important."

Quotes via The United Stand on X.

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Final Thoughts

Thank God no injuries 🙌.

To know that we have as strong a squad available to us as possible at the moment is such a relief. After seeing basically our entire back four having to be substituted on Saturday, I think we all thought that there's no chance they could feature in this game. Erik ten Hag confirming that they are available is such a boost even if I don't think he'll select those players.

The last thing we would've wanted is for them to be out with us stressing over whether they'll make it for the Palace game on the weekend. With them being ready for tomorrow night - just a couple of days after our last game - means there are no concerns of them missing that match at Selhurst Park.

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It is a bit disappointing though, that Rasmus Hojlund is still unavailable. After seeing those training pictures of his, I thought that he could be at least on the bench for Southampton. Now, he won't even be ready for the game after.

I felt like this would've been a great opportunity for him to get some minutes in the tank ahead of a crunch season.

Luke Shaw still being out isn't a surprise although I also thought that he would be back by now. And what the hell is wrong with Lindelof? I don't even know what his injury problem is but for him to not even be training is a problem. He's been out for some time now as well.

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I do believe the manager will start both Ugarte and Antony despite him being coy with his replies on them two players. He spoke about rotation with these being the perfect type of games where you can rest some who need time off as well as test the quality of the rest of your squad.

With a lot of games in quick succession, he'll need to chop and change things quite often. This will also give players like Ugarte and Antony (and others) an opportunity to get some much needed game time and prove why they should be at the club.

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This isn't the trophy we want to win, let's be real. However, as the manager said, it is a trophy for us to win and as we're in the tournament, we should do everything we can to win it.

It's still a major trophy at the end of the season and it shows some success from the campaign. When we won it in ten Hag's first season, it was our first trophy in 6 years. That triumph felt great. While we would all prefer to win the other domestic trophies and European trophies over the Carabao Cup, winning this trophy is something that I'll gladly take.

We also aren't in a position where we dominate in England so we have to be content with what we get.

Erik ten Hag is also right in saying that all the other top clubs take it seriously as well as when looking at the recent winners, you can see that most of them are the heavy hitters:

2024: Liverpool

2023: Man Utd

2022: Liverpool

2021 - 2018: Man City

2017: Man Utd

2016: Man City

2015: Chelsea

It isn't as insignificant as some make it seem. It will be very difficult to lift it in February looking at that list of previous winners.

I do want to win it even if it isn't that glamorous.

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Background Image: Lisandro Martinez thanks the fans after Man Utd's 3-0 win at Southampton | Image via Manchester United offical X (@ManUtd)