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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Marc Mayo

Anthony Martial backed to improve as Erik ten Hag admits he ‘expects better’ of Manchester United striker

Erik ten Hag has put his faith in Anthony Martial to rediscover his form for Manchester United.

The French striker has scored once in three starts since the World Cup restart as he looks to put an injury-hit first half of the campaign behind him.

Ahead of facing Bournemouth, Ten Hag admitted United “have a need” to sign a new attacker following Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit.

Martial has been handed the striker’s role in recent weeks and looks set to start against the Cherries tonight, with his manager expecting an improvement.

“I don’t think [he is 100%],” said Ten Hag. “He didn’t play [a lot] for a long time and probably this [Wolves] wasn’t his [best] game. I was more happy with his performances before.

“You could see what a real impact he can have. That’s normal. You can’t expect players to always play their best form. This was one game.

“In the next game, I expect a better performance from him. I think he will do, I’m really convinced of that.

“I’m really happy with his performances across many games. He has a really good impact on our game. It’s really enjoyable to work with him.

“If you see the minutes he’s played and the impact he’s had so far, I think that’s really huge.”

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