Manchester United are preparing for the trip to Bournemouth this weekend as they look to avoid making it three Premier League defeats in a row.
It's no secret that the Europa League is United's priority now and next Thursday's game against Athletic Bilbao is undoubtedly a more important fixture than Sunday's clash with the Cherries. That being said, Sunday's game will be a useful outing for those players who were rested last weekend against Wolves as United prepare for the trip to Bilbao.
United's European adventure may be the priority but there is still pride to play for in the Premier League. The club are already guaranteed to record their lowest ever Premier League points total and there's a very real possibility they could slip as low as 17th in the standings.
Sunday's defeat to Wolves meant Ruben Amorim's side have now gone four league games without a win but this weekend they will come up against a team who have also been struggling for wins over the last few months.
Andoni Iraola's side have picked up just one victory in their last eight league outings and so this could be a good chance for United to build some momentum ahead of the game against Athletic Bilbao.
Stick with us for live updates from Ruben Amorim's press conference.
Key Events
That's the lot!
That's all from today's United press conference blog.
Some good news and some bad news from Amorim ahead of this weekend's trip to Bournemouth.
The United head coach will hope to have Dalot available again before the end of the season and it sounds like we could see Amad and De Ligt in the coming weeks.
Rashford latest
Amorim has reiterated United are "really happy" about Rashford's form for Aston Villa.
Rashford started ahead of striker Ollie Watkins again in Villa's 2-1 Premier League defeat at Manchester City in midweek and scored from the penalty spot.
Read what Amorim said here >>>
Ruben Amorim confirms decision on United players' futures
Ruben Amorim has decided which players he wants to keep and sell at Manchester United and claimed "every player wants to play" for the club.
It comes amid news United are are aiming to sign Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap in a summer where they could break double figures for departures.
Read the full story, here.
Amorim on prioritising the Europa League
It matters a lot, what I’m saying with our current squad you have to take a risk and choose the priority. I want the best players in every game and sometimes it’s hard for me to take a risk in every game but in this moment we have to make choices and I want to protect the young players, I don’t want to put everybody together in the same game so they can’t perform, I want to help the club and I am trying to help.
Amorim on Casemiro and whether United players can change his mind before the summer?
Everything can happen. Casemiro is the best example. He wasn’t playing and then you see the last games he’s having a part, he’s performing quite well, he’s playing all the time, I like to change my mind, if they change my mind I like that, I want to put the best players in my team.
Is United's pull the same in the transfer window?
Amorim said:
It’s Manchester United. What I feel is there are a lot of players that want to play for our club, if you look at our club in the moment with all the problems, changing coach, it looks a little bit of a problem but we have a clear idea and that’s the easiest part to explain for a player. It’s Manchester United and every player wants to play for Manchester United.
Nothing to play for on Sunday?
The focus is we have to face it and we need to have that feeling every game here is important and we have to win every game, important not to lose. Of course, you see the context. We are going to face this game with the best team, we had a full week to prepare, some of the players didn’t play against Wolves so recover the players is not a bad thing. I will try to prepare for this game and try and win the next one.
Amorim on the confidence of the owners
We have to win every game and every game is important. We have to put our standards, even without winning, really high. I feel the board understand the context and what we want to do. Our idea is really clear.
I am critical because we are not winning games and we are Manchester United and near the bottom.
Amorim on Rashford's form at Villa
All the players on loan will return and then the club will decide what to do at the end of the season. The talent of Rashford, the talent of Antony, they all have talent. We are really happy because if you put players on loan you want them to perform. That is good for us.
Amorim on Hojlund
A striker needs to score goals. We try to help him and he is trying really hard and he wants things so bad he makes it worse.
He created one situation against Wolverhampton and he is improving the small things. The goal will come.
Amorim on Bournemouth focus
"I don't talk about Bilbao, I focus on Bournemouth. They way they perform against Bournemouth can change my mind for the next game.
"We need to win, that is all."
Amorim addresses Matheus Cunha links
I could say this is a conversation for the end of the season but I have an idea that is clear because we need to do things early.
I will not say anything about Matheus because if I say one time I will have to comment on every situation. I am focused on this season and even in the next few games could change our plan for next season.
Amorim reveals Dalot injury blow amid updates on Amad and De Ligt
No, Diogo Dalot is out. We don’t know how long he’s going to be out. But he’s out for these next games. We will see to the end. Amad is near, Mattha is near but the rest is at the same pace. Ayden is not ready, so that’s it.
There is that possibility but I don’t know, we will check week by week because he works really hard,he can recover quite well, we’ll see. He has something in his muscle, his calf, he had a sequence of games, he played all the time, we try to manage but the players play a lot of minutes and not so ready to cope with that. Dalot felt something.
15 minutes to go
We will bring you everything Amorim says at today's press conference in 15 minutes.
The United head coach will give any injury updates as well as any early team news ahead of the trip to the sout coast.
Sunday's game will be little more than a warm-up exercise ahead of Thursday's Europa League date with Athletic Bilbao. It's important United don't pick up any injuries this weekend as they prepare for their biggest game in years.
Youngsters to get a chance?
There's every chance Amorim will turn to some of the club's rising stars this weekend as he looks to offer some of his key players a rest.
Tyler Fredricson made his first appearance for the club last weekend and he did his chances of further opportunities no harm with a solid display.
Our chief United writer, Samuel Luckhurst, has taken a look at the players who could be in line for a debut over the coming weeks having been named on the bench already this season.
There are 11 in total. Read who they are here >>>
Maguire and Casemiro to return?
Ruben Amorim took the opportunity to rest some of his key players last week but some did feature from the bench.
Casemiro and Harry Maguire were afforded an afternoon off as they remained unused by Amorim and it would be wise of the United head coach to offer them some game time on Sunday.
The game against Bilbao will be their first outing in two weeks if they don't feature on Sunday and that would be a big gamble.
Injury updates
Who could we be given an update on today?
United are currently without Amad, Ayden Heaven, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Joshua Zirkzee and Toby Collyer.
Martinez and Zirkzee have been ruled out for the season but there is hope that the other four players will all feature again before the campaign is over.
Amorim could provide an update on his injured stars today and hopefully there have been no further injury issues picked up since the defeat to Wolves.
Remaining fixtures
The league season has been a write-off for some time for United. The Europa League is the priority now but there are still five games to go in the Premier league this season.
Here's a look at United's remaining games. They'll be hoping to add a date in the Europa League final to this list:
Bournemouth (a)
Athletic Bilbao (a)
Brentford (a)
Athletic Bilbao (h)
West Ham (h)
Chelsea (a)
Villa (h)
When will we hear from Amorim?
The United boss will provide injury updates and any early team news ahead of the clash with Bournemouth.
Amorim is due to speak this afternoon and we'll bring you updates from his press conference from 1.30pm.
Stick with us to learn the all important team news ahead of a few huge weeks for the club.
Hello!
Hello and welcome to today's United press conference blog.
Amorim will preview the clash with Bournemouth today and provide any injury updates.
Sunday's defeat to Wolves meant United have now gone four league games without a win but this weekend they will come up against a team who have also been struggling for wins over the last few months.
Andoni Iraola's side have picked up just one victory in their last eight league outings and so this could be a good chance for United to build some momentum ahead of the game against Athletic Bilbao.
