Erik ten Hag has seven Manchester United players he can completely count on

Erik ten Hag is partial to an espresso before his press conferences at Carrington and Manchester United's recent schedule has been so relentless caffeine is an essential stimulant

To compound the Thursday-Sunday schedule of the Europa League, the Premier League have saddled United with four Thursday night kick-offs. United's third round League Cup tie was also played on a Thursday.

United are not impressed by avoidable Thursday-Sunday weeks but their record on the Sunday after Thursday fixtures reads won nine, drawn three and lost two. Ten Hag seldom apportions the blame for defeats on external factors and it would be out of character for him to lament the Thursday slots.

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Ten Hag may soon start wishing the days away. United have a week-long gap between their upcoming fixtures against Wolves and Bournemouth and then there is a five-day wait for their penultimate league game against Chelsea.

United ought to have railed against that date, needlessly pushed back to accommodate television rights holders. Manchester City are at Brighton on Wednesday night but, as the broadcasters wanted to avoid a clash, United could have played on Tuesday.

Truly successful teams will always be pressed for recovery time. City have only played three games fewer than United, whose complacency in the Europa League group stage added two more games to a crammed campaign with their play-offs against Barcelona.

This will be the sixth-longest season in United's history. In the more taxing seasons, they won a combined 11 trophies and there were open-top bus parades down Deansgate at the conclusions in 1994 and '99.

"Tiredness is in the mind," Ten Hag stressed last week. United have