Man Utd duo pull out of international duty ahead of ‘decisive qualifying matches’ due to Luton injuries
Manchester United duo Rasmus Hojlund and Christian Eriksen have withdrawn from the Denmark squad due to injury.
Both players were substituted off during the Red Devils’ 1-0 Premier League win against Luton Town on Saturday.
Eriksen was replaced by summer signing Mason Mount in the first half due to a knee problem, while Hojlund hobbled straight down the tunnel holding his hamstring with ten minutes remaining.
They were due to link up with their Danish teammates for the Euro 2024 qualifiers against Slovenia and Northern Ireland.
On Monday morning, the Danish national team confirmed that the United pair were being replaced by Napoli’s Jesper Lindstrom and Trabzonspor’s Jens Stryger Larsen.
“Christian Eriksen and Rasmus Hojlund have both been injured and unfortunately have to cancel the upcoming games,” a statement from the Danish national team’s X account read.
“National coach Kasper Hjulmand has instead selected Jesper Lindstrom and Jens Stryger Larsen for the decisive qualifying matches.
“A very good recovery for the United duo and a big welcome to the squad for Jobbe and Stryger.”
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There has been no update from the Premier League club on the fitness of their two Danish stars after Erik ten Hag confirmed on Saturday that he was waiting for further assessment in order to get a clearer picture.
“In this moment, I can’t comment anything about it because I don’t know the assessment,” the United manager said. “You have to wait 24 hours. Give them and the medical (team) 24 hours to see what is the problem, if there is a problem.”
Ten Hag has been forced to deal with an alarming amount of injuries this season and was without Jonny Evans, Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw and Casemiro for Saturday’s visit of Luton.
“That is our season; so many injuries,” Ten Hag added. “Therefore, you have a squad, but we have talked many times about it. Hopefully players are coming back and those new injuries aren’t too bad.”
In the absence of Evans and Martinez, the Dutchman turned to Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof against the Hatters, leaving four-time Champions League winner Raphael Varane on the bench.
There are rumours of a fractured relationship between Ten Hag and Varane but Maguire will not care having fought his way back into the former Ajax manager’s starting XI.
The day before the win over Luton, Ten Hag told reporters: “Harry Maguire is doing very well at the moment, and I am very happy with that.
“As I always said, Harry Maguire can do the job — and now he is showing he can do the job.
“Last year Harry didn’t play a lot, so I was very happy with Rapha’s performances. I have always been happy with his performance. But in this moment, Harry is playing very well and there is internal competition.”
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