Manchester United have quickly switched their focus to Saturday evening's FA Cup fourth round clash with Reading at Old Trafford.
The Reds, who have developed a trend for facing the Royals in the competition in recent years, will be looking to build on Wednesday night's 3-0 Carabao Cup semi-final first-leg win over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. Goals from Marcus Rashford, Wout Weghorst and Bruno Fernandes sealed a polished victory for Erik ten Hag's side, meaning they will head into next Wednesday's second-leg with one foot already in the final.
But before United can begin to think about, hopefully, putting the finishing touches to their semi-final showdown with Forest, they must navigate their way past a Reading side who will be gunning to pull off a major FA Cup upset. The Reds, though, have been excellent at Old Trafford in recent months, winning each of their last ten matches on their own patch.
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Although Ten Hag's troops are strong favourites to progress to the fifth round of the competition for the eighth time in the last nine seasons, it is guaranteed that the Dutchman will approach the contest with the utmost seriousness, just as he has every previous cup game this season. The Reds were straight back on the training ground less than 24 hours after their win over Forest.
With that said, MEN Sport has picked out four things that we spotted from Thursday's training session:
Forest starters not included
Back on the training ground less than 24 hours after the clash with Forest kicked-off, it was no surprise to see that none of the 11 players who started at the City Ground were not included in the session. That is a regular theme when training a day after a game, as it allows those who started to earn some much-needed rest and recovery.
However, Anthony Elanga, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri and Fred, all of whom came on during the second half on the banks of the Trent, did participate in the session. Of the aforementioned quartet, it was Garnacho that stored the most minutes under his belt on Wednesday evening, coming on after 57 minutes to replace Rashford.
Pellistri and Fred came on with just under 20 minutes of normal time to go and Elanga replaced Weghorst on 85 minutes.
Sancho features again
Although Ten Hag has not put a specific date on when Jadon Sancho could make his return to the matchday squad, the former Borussia Dortmund man is continuing to train alongside his teammates. He spent time in the Netherlands working on an individual training programme during the World Cup break and returned to Carrington for the first time in two months a fortnight ago.
He has not played for United in any capacity since the 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on October 22.
Issuing an update on Sancho's recovery ahead of last Sunday's defeat to Arsenal, Ten Hag said: "He is making the next step and because it is true, yesterday was the first time in the team training. But I think training was a final training before a game, so we will extend that in the coming days and weeks and then go step by step."
Mainoo aims to impress again
After making his United debut against lower-league opposition in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup against Charlton Athletic earlier this month, Kobbie Mainoo could be in line to store some more minutes under his belt against Reading. The Stockport-born midfielder was handed a rare start against the Addicks and could creep into Ten Hag's thoughts again against the Royals.
Given the quick turnaround between fixtures in a jam-packed schedule, Ten Hag could rotate his squad on Saturday, meaning Mainoo will fancy his chances of forcing his way into the midfield-three once again. Donny van de Beek is sidelined through injury and Fernandes is just one booking away from an FA Cup ban, meaning that could present an opening for the 17-year-old.
He was pictured taking part in the main session on Thursday, featuring alongside the likes of Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire, meaning he will be gaining some valuable experience from that alone.
Fred feels the cold
It will soon be summer. Hopefully.
United's players, just as everyone else is, are continuing to battle against the challenges winter brings, not least for those who work outdoors. Fred braced himself for the elements on Thursday, wrapping up as warm as he possibly could.
He came out onto the Carrington training pitches sporting a hat, snood and gloves. You couldn't blame him, in truth.
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