Anthony Martial has given Manchester United a bigger problem than his fitness

We may never know if Erik ten Hag had intended on starting Anthony Martial in the FA Cup final but he must curse sending him on against Fulham.

Martial sustained his sixth injury of the season in a 23-minute outing. Manchester United supporters spotted Martial clutching his hamstring during the lap of appreciation.

As the players approached the tunnel on Sunday, Martial, with his son Swan in his arms, held his hand aloft gratefully. Father and son never re-emerged for a post-match kick about whereas almost every other father in the United squad did.

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In a barren midweek, the build-up to the FA Cup final demanded training pictures. Of the 44 uploaded onto Getty Images on Tuesday, Martial was conspicuous by his absence.

Even Donny van de Beek was captured. So were Nathan Bishop, Radek Vitek, Brandon Williams and Anthony Elanga. The besuited Martial was at the player of the year awards do at Old Trafford on Monday night and he will stay in his Paul Smith two-piece at Wembley on Saturday.

Martial scored twice against Manchester City in October (although United had already conceded six) and United were the superior side in the first half of the January derby that Martial started. He did not finish it. Martial withdrew through injury at the interval.

Come the campaign's conclusion, Martial will have appeared in 29 of United's 62 matches. Only 17 were starts. Even when he was fit and in training, he did not play for four weeks as Ten Hag eased him back into a competitive environment.

Reintegrating Martial into the team after injury has become as delicate as assembling a nuclear weapon. Wout Weghorst started 19 successive games for United and did not succumb to injury once. A hybrid