Erik ten Hag has his say on Harry Maguire being Man Utd’s ‘fifth choice’ centre-back and urges England star to fight

MANCHESTER UNITED boss Erik ten Hag has had his say on claims Harry Maguire is the club’s “fifth-choice” centre-back.

Maguire has seen his game time limited this season owing to the strong partnership of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez.

GettyErik ten Hag has urged Harry Maguire to fight for his spot in the squad[/caption]

GettyMaguire could feature from the start against Reading this evening[/caption]

The League Cup quarter-final against Charlton was the last time Maguire played significant minutes

When either of the pair has not played, the likes of Victor Lindelof or full-back Luke Shaw have been preferred in the position ahead of Maguire in some recent games.

But the United manager rebuked the claim of him being fifth in the pecking order and urged the England defender to fight for his place in the team.

He told reporters: “He’s not our fifth choice. Harry has to fight for his position and things can change — sometimes also really quickly.

“I think he is making progress and it’s up to him now.”

Shaw missed the Carabao Cup semi-final against Nottingham Forest and remains 50-50 for the FA Cup clash against Reading tonight.

This means Ten Hag has no natural left-sided centre halves asides from Martinez – who he will doubtless want to give a rest where he can.

This means Maguire could step back into the left-sided role despite being deployed more typically on the right this season.

Alternatively, Lindelof could simply be swapped into the left-sided role instead, though he prefers to play on the right side too.

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Further up the pitch, compatriot Jadon Sancho is “improving” after returning to first-team training following a prolonged absence.

On the 22-year-old’s return, Ten Hag said: “He is training with the team & we will see [when he can return to play minutes].

“He’s improving, he’s making steps & we will make the decision after the training.”

Should he feature at all, Sancho will more likely see a cameo from the bench than from the start of the clash at Old Trafford.