Erik ten Hag said he would have preferred not to play against his former club, FC Twente, in the Europa League because it's "not nice to have to hurt something you love."

The best players have been overloaded due to a packed fixture calendar leaving them prone to injury, Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said ahead of the Old Trafford side's Europa League opener against his boyhood club Twente on Wednesday.

Ten Hag dismissed suggestions his side's attack was toothless and likely to fail this season: "We have creatde a lot of chances in the first games of the season. Last week we scored seven against Barnsley - we are capable of scoring many goals. It's part of the game. We have to be better and improve. We have to kill more in the box."

"His heart is Twente, and it will always be," friends and team-mates of Erik ten Hag tell stories of the Manchester United manager's past

Erik ten Hag has admitted Manchester United need to “kill in the box” after scoring only five goals so far in the Premier League this season, leaving them with a goal difference of zero.