Five things spotted in Man United training as new signing missing and youngsters dominate ahead of Brighton clash

Five things spotted in Man United training as new signing missing and youngsters dominate ahead of Brighton clash

All the very latest from Man United’s Carrington training base ahead of Saturday’s tussle with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Manchester United will be looking to get back to winning ways when they welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.

United, who lost both of their league meetings with the Seagulls last season, will be looking to put what has been a turbulent international break behind them by registering a much-needed victory.

The Reds were beaten 3-1 by Arsenal in their last outing and the recent hiatus has been dominated by off-field troubles.

It means that manager Erik ten Hag, as well as his players, will no doubt be determined to let the football start doing the talking again.

The clash with the Seagulls marks United’s first of three games in the space of just eight days, meaning they will be determined to get off to an ideal start and restore some confidence.

United have experienced an underwhelming start to the campaign, in terms of both results and performances. But in a bid to increase their performance levels, the players and coaching staff have, of course, been putting the hard yards in at Carrington over the last few days.

With that in mind, MEN Sport has picked out four things that we spotted from Thursday’s training session.

Youngsters galore
Throughout his time in charge at Old Trafford, Ten Hag has not shied away from inviting members of the club’s youth squads to rub shoulders with senior figures. The door has often been open, enabling the club’s youngsters to gain some valuable experience.

From the images released of Thursday’s session, a total of ten young players were confirmed to have featured. James Nolan, Ethan Williams, Willy Kambwala, Sonny Aljofree, Maxi Oyedele, Dan Gore, Hannibal Mejbri, Shola Shoretire, Omari Forson and Mateo Mejia were all spotted.

Both Gore and Hannibal were unused substitutes against Arsenal prior to the international break. The former has made the last two matchday squads.

Hojlund raring to go
After making his United bow from the bench against Arsenal, Rasmus Hojlund will be targeting his full debut this weekend. The Dane arrived from Atalanta injured last month and has slowly been building up his fitness levels.

But after making two substitute appearances for Denmark over the recent break, it is hoped that he will be strong enough to make his first United start against Brighton. If awarded that opportunity, he will be determined to mark it with a goal.

He looked sharp and energised in the training pictures released, offering only positive signs. He was doing plenty of ball-related work and getting stuck in.

Rashford all smiles
Though he will no doubt have been disappointed not to have got himself on the scoresheet for England against Scotland on Tuesday night, Marcus Rashford will be hoping to pick up where he left off against Brighton.

He netted his first goal of the season in the Reds’ defeat at Arsenal almost a fortnight ago.

Restored to his preferred position on the left-flank, it is possible that he could join forces with Facundo Pellistri and Hojlund in attack against the Seagulls.

Though that would increase his responsibility levels, he would likely relish the opportunity.

Ahead of the prospect of that happening, he appeared to be happier than ever in training on Thursday, smiling and sharing a joke with Ten Hag in several images that were captured.

Fighting for a place
Both Harry Maguire and Donny van de Beek were players that United wanted to try and offload ahead of the transfer window slamming shut a fortnight ago. In the end, however, deals for either of them failed to materialise.

Maguire played twice for England over the break and will now be hoping that he can somehow force his way back into Ten Hag’s plans. Van de Beek, who is yet to store a single minute under his belt for either club or country this season, also featured in the session.

Both of them will be eyeing up places in the matchday squad on Saturday at the very least.

No sign of Amrabat
After withdrawing from the Morocco squad through injury as a precaution, deadline day signing Sofyan Amrabat was not pictured participating in the main training session on Thursday. At the time of writing, the full extent of the midfielder’s condition has not been disclosed by the club.

Though it is possible he trained out of shot of the cameras, the fact he was not pictured taking part in the main group session suggests that he may not be in a strong enough position to start the clash with the Seagulls. Boss Ten Hag is likely to confirm further details in his pre-match press call on Friday lunchtime.