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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Victor

Man Utd squad for FA Cup clash includes Paul Pogba, Hannibal Mejbri and Cristiano Ronaldo

Manchester United's players have arrived at their hotel ahead of the FA Cup fourth round clash against Middlesbrough, giving fans some clue as to which players might be involved at Old Trafford.

Ralf Rangnick's squad have returned from the international break ready to return to action, though Jesse Lingard will not be involved after being given time off by the club for what he has described as personal reasons.

United set up the tie with Championship side Middlesbrough after beating Premier League opposition in Aston Villa in round three, with Scott McTominay scoring the only goal of the game.

And McTominay's midfield colleague Paul Pogba could provide the Scot with competition for a starting place, with the French international spotted arriving at The Hyatt Hotel, while youngster Hannibal Mejbri also joined the first team.

How important is Paul Pogba's return for Manchester United? Have your say in the comments section

Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw were both spotted arriving at The Hyatt Hotel (Eamonn and James Clarke)
Pogba has yet to feature for Man Utd in 2022 (Eamonn and James Clarke)

Pogba has not played a minute for United since Ralf Rangnick took over as interim manager, with his last Premier League appearance ending in a red card against Liverpool in October.

The former Juventus man was injured while on international duty with France, but is in contention to feature in Friday's cup game.

And he has been joined by 19-year-old midfielder Mejbri, who received praise from Rangnick after impressing in training and on international duty with Tunisia.

Mejbri made his senior Manchester United debut at the end of last season, coming off the bench in a Premier League win against Wolverhampton Wanderers, and could make his first appearance under Rangnick against Middlesbrough.

"To be honest, I haven't seen that much of him as he was with the national team. I saw him play in the tournament, not the Africa Cup of Nations but the one before [the Arab Cup]," Rangnick said.

"I saw him play in the final and, from what I've seen so far, I think he's a promising talent. He deserves to be part of the group for the rest of the season and also part of the group for tomorrow's game."

Hannibal Mejbri could get his first minutes under Ralf Rangnick (Eamonn and James Clarke)
Raphael Varane is one of the senior players in the cup squad (Eamonn and James Clarke)

United gave Cristiano Ronaldo a rest in the third round, starting with Edinson Cavani up front against Villa, but the Portugal forward is back in the squad for the Boro clash.

Cavani has been away on international duty with Uruguay, coming off the bench in their World Cup qualifier against Paraguay before starting and scoring against Venezuela.

Ronaldo, meanwhile, should be fresh after some time off, during which he joined some of his United teammates in spending time in Dubai.

Ronaldo and compatriot Diogo Dalot are both in the mix for a starting place (Eamonn and James Clarke)
Scott McTominay was Man Utd's match-winner in the third round (Eamonn and James Clarke)

United will aim to go five games unbeaten in all competitions when their opponents from the second tier come to town.

After losing at home to Wolves in early January, United beat Villa in the cup and drew with Steven Gerrard's side in the league, before back-to-back victories over Brentford and West Ham United.

Opponents Boro are in fine form themselves, having won seven of their last nine league games under Chris Wilder, though they needed a late decider against League Two side Mansfield Town in the third round of the cup.

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