Erik ten Hag has praised Bruno Fernandes as an example at Manchester United after the midfielder’s performance against Tottenham.
Fernandes was a major doubt for the clash after being pictured wearing a protective boot this week, after sustaining an ankle problem during the FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton last weekend.
The Portugal international recovered in time to play the entire contest against Spurs on Thursday and provided his seventh assist of the Premier League season with a long pass into Marcus Rashford.
The Manchester United boss was full of praise for Fernandes’ determination to feature at Spurs and believes the midfielder can be an inspiration to the rest of the squad.
“It was tough. A big compliment to Bruno. He absolutely didn’t want to miss this game and did everything to get fit,” Ten Hag said at his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s fixture with Aston Villa.
“He is the example that you have to suffer and sacrifice when you want to play at the top level – when you want to achieve something.
“Once again he showed how great a captain he is, how he has taken responsibility. Even though he is not 100% fit, he did the job.
“He was important in this [Tottenham] game as well and, hopefully, others in this team can see him as an inspiration and do the same.”
