Ten Hag on Ronaldo, injuries and external noise

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been speaking to the media before Saturday’s Premier League trip to Southampton (kick-off 12:30 BST).

Here are the key lines from his news conference:

Injured duo Rasmus Hojlund and Luke Shaw are “progressing very well” but will not be ready for this match.
New signing Manuel Ugarte is available and could make his debut: “He played for Uruguay, he returned this afternoon. He was the only player who returned today, all the others returned yesterday so he is available for this game.”
On Cristiano Ronaldo‘s criticisms of him and the club as a whole: “He is far away in Saudi, far away from Manchester. Everyone can have and is entitled to have an opinion, it is OK.”
The manager was bullish when asked if his side had to win against Southampton: “We have to win all the games and that will always be the approach, it doesn’t change for any game.”
On how he copes with the external noise surrounding the club: “It doesn’t impact me, I know in the process where we are. We are still in a transition process, we have to integrate a lot of young players. We still have to deal with injuries and have to bring players back into the team.”
He added: “Before anyone thinks about excuses, no, we have to win every game. I know that. The team knows this and it doesn’t matter who is available we will focus on every game and in every game have the mindset that we have to win.”

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