Manchester United's final preparations have been completed ahead of tonight's clash with Bournemouth. Following Tottenham Hotspur's defeat to Aston Villa on New Year's Day, the Reds find themselves inside the top four before entertaining the Cherries.
United 's players are buoyant after victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Year's Eve. Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game off the bench in a tight encounter with the West Midlands club. Bournemouth meanwhile lost 2-0 at home to Crystal Palace this weekend and will be keen to right that wrong tonight.
Ahead of the match, MEN Sport has taken a look at United's final training session at Carrington before the match this evening and this is what we spotted.
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Ten Hag begins training with pep talk
It has become commonplace for Mitchell van der Gaag, Steve McClaren and Benni McCarthy to be the prominent coaching staff at training for the Reds. However, Ten Hag opted to lead the opening stages of training with a light-hearted pep talk starting off the session.
Later on, McClaren took to the forefront and led a running drill with the United squad. The Reds took part in some ball possession work as well before the session at Carrington ended.
New team spirit on display
One of the key things which United fans have spotted since Ten Hag has taken over is the positive team spirit which he has managed to cultivate. This was on display once more yesterday as Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane all shared a joke together during training.
After a long time of United players looking like they did not want to be at the club, this new bond the team has is brilliant to witness.
Martinez in full contention
Any concerns as to whether Martinez is ready to feature for the Reds were alleviated on Monday. The Argentine was fully in the mix during the training session and looked sharp.
Luke Shaw has performed well at centre-back but United fans would much prefer to see their regular defensive duo on the pitch. Could AFC Bournemouth provide the opposition for Martinez's first start back from the World Cup?
Rashford ready to start again
After oversleeping cost him a place in the starting XI on Saturday, there appeared to be no signs that Rashford would not be considered for a start this evening. Like his teammates, the English forward looked in good spirits at Carrington.
Rashford's performances in recent weeks have made him undroppable but Ten Hag made a strong stance by knocking him to the bench after the 'internal disciplinary' breach. Lesson learned, the United man is ready to start tonight.
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