Manchester United star Bruno Fernandes doubtful for Premier League game vs Tottenham

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes is doubtful for their crucial Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday, boss Erik ten Hag confirmed.

Fernandes played 101 minutes in Manchester United's FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton last Sunday but looked to be struggling at times after twisting his ankle during the first half of the game at Wembley Stadium.

Manchester United's No. 8 played a significant role in the midfield before Ten Hag replaced him with Wout Weghorst in extra time. The Portuguese midfielder missed his side's nail-biting penalty shootout, which the Red Devils won 7-6 after Solly March's miss during sudden death.

In what would be a crucial game for Manchester United in terms of their place in the 2022-23 Premier League table, Fernandes' availability is still uncertain according to ten Hag.

With 59 points from 30 matches, Manchester United are currently in fourth place in the league table, six points ahead of sixth-placed Spurs, while the Old Trafford side has two games in hand as well. A victory for Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday could effectively knock the hosts out of the top-four race.

"There are some unavailable. [Lisandro] Martinez, [Raphael] Varane. We have to see how Bruno Fernandes is," Ten Hag told reporters at the pre-match conference.

"We don't know yet, he is a question mark. I think for the rest, we are quite okay," the Dutch boss added.

Manchester United fans became concerned about Fernandes when a picture of the Portugal national recovering at home showed him requiring a protective boot and crutches.

Reacting to that, Ten Hag suggested this didn't necessarily rule Fernandes out of his side's trip to North London, although he faced a race against time for the swelling to reduce.

"It's more often [than not] that players [wear the boot], that we protect them. Prevention. But it [the ankle] has to settle down so we all have seen he played the full [90-minute] game and it happened in the first half.

"But [the game is] Thursday, so tomorrow is quick but we have to see what is possible," said Ten Hag.

Fernandes recently missed Manchester United's Europa League defeat at Sevilla. Last year, he missed the Red Devils' 3-2 win against Tottenham in March. He was ill that day, when his fellow countryman Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick.

Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Ten Hag also heaped praise on Spurs star Harry Kane ahead of the two sides meeting on Thursday.

Earlier this season, Kane became Spurs' all-time scorer and also surpassed Wayne Rooney to become England's leading marksman in March.

Despite Spurs' yet another challenging season, including their 6-1 thrashing against Newcastle United last week, Kane has been at his best. With 24 goals, Kane is the second leading scorer in the Premier League in the underway campaign, just behind Erling Haaland's 32 goals.

Ten Hag is confident his side can once again keep the centre-forward quiet just like they did in their 2-0 win in the reverse fixture in October.

"It is quite clear his impact on the game from Spurs. And we have a plan, of course, for that and in the home game we did very well. So, yeah, for tomorrow, we need a very good plan as well. You have to defend as a team and he is a clever player, so don't allow him to come in the situations where he can have a big impact on the game," added Ten Hag.