Erik ten Hag explains why Manchester United have a 'bright future' and are going in the right direction

Erik ten Hag reiterated Manchester United are going "in the right direction" when they have a full squad to choose from.

United are without 10 players for the Premier League visit of Everton on Saturday and the absence of Omari Forson is the 48th separate case of an injury or illness causing a player to miss a game.

Ten Hag guided United to their first trophy in almost six years with the League Cup last season as the team finished third in the Premier League table and reached the FA Cup final.

However, United are currently sixth and 11 points adrift of the fourth guaranteed Champions League qualifying place, their League Cup defence ended at the second hurdle and they were completely eliminated from European competitions when they finished bottom of their Champions League group in December.

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United have lost 16 games already this season - 11 in the league - but Ten Hag has a decent win percentage of 60%, which is better than Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta's win percentage after 100 games in charge of Liverpool and Arsenal.

"The project is going in the right direction when we have the players available," Ten Hag stressed. "Top football is about winning games and we're working, keep working on better performances.

"We want to play to maximum levels and we will have to do it with the players available, who are good players. In key positions you miss players who have a very high impact on the way we want to play.

"We want to be successful, we need to be successful, but sometimes seasons are going like we are now in but we don't accept that. We will fight, we have had problems and still have problems with