Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag concedes he remains wary of starting Anthony Martial after victory over Brentford.
Martial, a 70th minute substitute, has missed much of the season with hip, back, Achilles and hamstring injuries – playing just 11 Premier League games this term.
Asked why Martial didn’t start, Ten Hag replied: “He was an option but I don’t think he was fit enough.
“Also it’s prevention. Obviously, when you see his record over the last years you have to be really careful to plan it.
“Even then still he can be fragile physically.
“So I don’t want to take that risk because I know when he is on the pitch he has a great impact on our performance.”
But Ten Hag claimed he is “happy” Martial is back and, once he’s back to full fitness, is excited at his attacking options.
The Dutchman claimed: “We have a very good frontline… a lot of creativity, a lot of intelligence, a lot of pace, a lot of togetherness…
“I think we can create more and then we will have more of a threat.
“And the balance of that frontline will be good.
“But obviously you have to play more together. So happy it looks like (Martial)’s back and hopefully he stays fit until the end of the season and we can play him.
“But we have seen with other players we have got results, we proved that… Martial is often not available but still we are there.”
