Erik ten Hag has revealed he will take a cautious approach with Anthony Martial's return to action following his injury struggles this season.
Martial enjoyed a great pre-season in which he looked ready to play the starring role as Manchester United's main striker this season. But a knock ruled him out for the opening games of the campaign and he made just one substitute appearance before an Achilles injury then sidelined him for a number of weeks.
The Frenchman made his long-awaited comeback in Sunday's Manchester derby and grabbed two goals - a predatory header and a fine penalty - to take the sting out of United's beating at the hands of City.
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Excitement surrounding Martial's return is high and he could make his first start of the season in Thursday's Europa League match with Omonia Nicosia. However, Ten Hag has explained that he will take things slow with his reintroduction to the team in order to try and avoid him picking up any more injuries.
“After a good pre-season, he fell out and only played a half game against Liverpool and we are happy he’s back," the Dutchman told United's in-house media. "But we will take it careful, step by step in a process to bring him back, but he played now almost a half, so 35 minutes, which is good and now we have to extend that. But from game to game, and we have a lot of games to cover.”
Ten Hag is hoping his side learns from their drubbing on Sunday and responds well in Cyprus. He added: “It’s always a different approach, but it’s also always difficult. I played before there, in the stadium against an opponent so the ambience, we have to be ready for that.
"We have to be ready for a team that is well motivated. They play on the front foot. For them, it is the game of their life, so we have to be ready to face that and to play our game and that is one of the lessons from Sunday.”
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