Manchester United boss Erik Ten Hag has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo will make only his second start of the season when United face Real Sociedad in the Europa League on thursday.
Ronaldo hasn't started since The Red Devils embarassing 4-0 loss away to Brentford on the second weekend of the season. Since then, the Portuguese sensation has been relegated to the bench, with United subsequently winning four games on the spin.
Marcus Rashford has led the line for each of those games and Ten Hag confirmed that the Englishman is likely to be rested tomorrow night. Anthony Martial's continued absence with an achilles problem opens the door for the 37-year-old Ronaldo to make a rare appearance from the start.
"He started against Brentford. Then not since but he is ready to start," insisted ten Hag.
"Maybe I cannot keep all [of the players] happy every game but everyone gets their game-time if they perform well, quite clear.
"We need everyone, we have a lot of games to cover in front of us, it's not only the national teams and the World Cup but the cups in England, the Europa League, the League Cup and, of course, the Premier League."
Marcus Rashford has led the line for much of the season so far and has scored three goals in his last two home games. When asked about the forwards uptick in form, ten Hag credited Rashford's 'happy' mindset for his improved performances.
"Once again, it's difficult for me to talk about the past but I see a happy Marcus Rashford, I see some phases in his game that we could improve and we worked really hard the last two and a half months with him on different aspects and he likes it and he wants to transfer it to the pitch and that's what you see in this moment.
"It starts with happiness, he really is coming in every day, enjoys it, he's really smiling, a positive vibe and if you want to stick together a way of play and transfer different aspects of your game and are happy, you will bring more of a contribution to the team, to the performance, to the result and also to the development.
"I don't think he's out of contract, United control the situation."
READ MORE:
- David Clifford nominated alongside Galway duo Cillian McDaid and Shane Walsh for Footballer of the Year
- Kerry lead the way with twelve players nominated for All-Stars
RTE pundit Richie Sadlier launches defence of Celtic over pragmatism row
Colm Collins becomes longest-serving inter-county boss with reappointment in Clare
Shamrock Rovers ace Andy Lyons refused to let Blackpool deal sidetrack him from the job at hand
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
