Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that captain Harry Maguire is available for Friday's pre-season friendly against Melbourne Victory at Melbourne Cricket ground.
The centre-back, who will continue as United's captain this season, missed Tuesday's 4-0 win over Liverpool in Thailand because of a minor knock. He trained away from the main group in the build-up to the contest on Monday and was not risked against Jurgen Klopp's side.
In his absence, Raphael Varane and Victor Lindelof started at centre-back, before being replaced at half-time by Eric Bailly and Alex Telles, as Ten Hag made mass changes at the interval. Bailly impressed after coming off the bench, meaning he could bag himself a starting berth against Melbourne.
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However, Ten Hag has confirmed that he expects Maguire to be capable of playing half of Friday's first friendly in Australia. The Dutchman did not, however, confirm if the England defender will start.
"He is available," Ten Hag confirmed, speaking at his pre-match press conference. "We will see [if he will play 45 minutes], but I think he can play half a game."
United enter their second pre-season outing with the squad in a healthy position, with Ten Hag reporting no fresh injury concerns. Goalkeeper David de Gea went off in the second-half against Liverpool after appearing to pull up with a minor complaint, but he was not mentioned by the Dutchman in his latest press call, suggesting that he is fine.
"Our squad is full," Ten Hag added. "We are at full capacity and we have a strong squad, so the fans will be happy."
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