ERIK TEN HAG wants his walking wounded to play through the pain and avoid a massacre by Arsenal.
The Manchester United boss welcomed back Marcus Rashford to training on Friday ahead of Sunday’s clash with the title-chasing Gunners.
ETH hopes his stars will be more "robust" and put up their hands for selection when he assembles his struggling squad on Saturday morning unless they have a serious injury.
The Red Devils were hammered 4-0 at Crystal Palace on Monday and now face a rampant Arsenal side who are the Premier League’s top scorers with 88 goals.
United have had 64 separate cases of injury and illness this term.
Even Bruno Fernandes missed his first United game through injury at Palace.
Ten Hag had a double boost yesterday with Rashford and centre-back Lisandro Martinez back in training.
But Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw, Willy Kambwala, Tyrell Malacia, Scott McTominay and Anthony Martial all are expected to remain on the sidelines.
United are eighth in the Prem and their best hope of qualifying for Europe next season is by beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Red Devils legend David Beckham says Ten Hag remains a “good manager” — and should not need to fire up his stars.
Speaking to talkSPORT at the premiere of ‘99’, a new documentary on Amazon about United’s Treble success 25 years ago, Beckham said:“Whether it’s a regular season game or an FA Cup final against your rivals, then that should be enough motivation.
“If it’s not, you’re in the wrong team and you’re playing the wrong sport.”
The Printworks, venue for the premiere, avoided potential embarrassment by covering up a huge poster of City striker Erling Haaland that was hanging over the entrance.
Gary Neville, Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole were among the other stars in attendance.