Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Steven Railston

Antony clue, Mainoo involved and more things spotted in Manchester United training ahead of Everton

Manchester United's players who started against Bournemouth were absent from training on Wednesday afternoon.

Those players were scheduled to have a recovery session before returning to training on Thursday ahead of Friday's match against Everton in the FA Cup, which meant first-team training on the grass was taken with reduced numbers and a few youngsters involved.

United have won their last six games and the first-teamers seemed in a jovial mood during training at Carrington ahead of the Reds' third-round clash with Everton in England's oldest cup competition.

ALSO READ: Guardiola contradicted himself to pay Ten Hag the ultimate compliment

Here are four things that MEN Sport spotted during that training session on Wednesday.

Benni McCarthy is popular

Mitchell van der Gaag and Steve McClaren were appointed as Erik ten Hag's assistant coaches at United in the summer and the addition of Benni McCarthy to the backroom staff followed, with the South African joining as a striker coach.

McCarthy was brought to the club to 'focus on the positioning and attacking stuff' and he's received praise from Marcus Rashford this season, while Ten Hag and Van der Gaag were spotted acknowledging McCarthy in the Old Trafford dug-out after Rashford's winner against West Ham.

Van der Gaag gestured to suggest McCarthy had a role to play in Rashford's goal on that occasion and he seems like a popular figure among the players, who he appears to have built a healthy, lighthearted relationship with during training.

McCarthy came to the club in the summer (MUTV)

Antony moving well

Antony started against Wolves on New Year's Eve but he was absent from the matchday squad to play Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Tuesday night. Ten Hag was asked about Antony's absence pre-match and said he was injured.

However, that injury seemed to be minor because the Brazilian winger took part in training on Wednesday, which came under 24 hours after he was unavailable to play against Bournemouth.

Antony sustained a hip injury at the end of October and that problem meant he was sidelined for five United fixtures.

Kobbie Mainoo involved

Regarding the youngsters who trained at Carrington, Kobbie Mainoo, Zidane Iqbal, Sam Murray and Sonny Aljofree worked with the main group. Mainoo, Murray and Aljofree were all part of the Under-18s squad that won the FA Youth Cup last season.

Since the Youth Cup final in May, Alejandro Garnacho has made his full debut, Charlie McNeill has made his debut, Isak Hansen-Aaroen featured against Rayo Vallecano in pre-season and Mainoo and Tyler Fredricson have made the bench.

Mainoo is just 17 years old but he's regarded as the shining light of his age group and be the next academy hopeful to make his debut.

Lisandro Martinez sharpness

After winning the World Cup with Argentina, Lisandro Martinez received a rapturous reception at Old Trafford prior to Tuesday's match against Bournemouth and he was named on the bench for that game, as was Raphael Varane.

Martinez is back (MUTV)

Martinez and Varane have become Ten Hag's preferred centre-back pairing this season and will be hoping to line up against Everton after Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof lined up against Bournemouth.

READ MORE:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.