Louis van Gaal has admitted that Manchester United will miss suspended Marouane Fellaini on Tuesday at West Ham.
The Belgian midfielder is suspended until the end of the Premier League season after a clash with Leicester City’s Robert Huth on May 1, and will be unable to repeat the match-winning contribution he made when United won 2-1 at Upton Park last month in the FA Cup.
“We are normally the smallest team, so we have problems with set plays,” said Van Gaal. “We have to cope with it. I cannot deny that.”
United need victory to push them a point ahead of neighbours City in the race for fourth place in the Premier League.
Van Gaal faces a nervous wait to see if forward Anthony Martial will return to action after pulling up lame with a muscle problem ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 win at Norwich.
“We have to see if his muscle is still tight,” Van Gaal added. “I don’t take any risks because he is a very important player and we don’t want a rupture.”
At Norwich, Wayne Rooney had to be shifted to play at centre-forward, as Marcus Rashford had not made the trip, having been rested. Van Gaal, with the FA Cup final and a last-day home match with Bournemouth to come, said he might still rest players on Tuesday.
“That’s always dependable on the data of my fatigue specialists,” said the Dutchman. “[On Sunday], it’s recovery day and the day after recovery we have to travel but I have to decide on the data who I will take with me.
“I will leave players behind if they are too tired. [On Saturday], the difference between last week against Leicester, it was 6 degrees and now it is 25 degrees, it’s a big difference. You have seen it in the faces of the players.”
Van Gaal expected that West Ham would be charged by the occasion of waving goodbye to the Boleyn Ground, with Tuesday being the club’s final match at the stadium before moving to the Olympic Stadium.
“They don’t want to lose,” said Van Gaal. “They have already lost to Manchester United in the the last FA Cup match, and that’s also history and West Ham United is a very good team, I think. We have a lot of respect for West Ham. It’s a historical big club in England, and we don’t want to spoil their party. We need the three points.”
Van Gaal also joked that, for the first time in a while, he had not been asked about his future as United manager.
“It’s the first time we are talking about my opponent and not my sacking, so thank you for that,” he said.
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