Erik ten Hag has fired a warning to out of favour Manchester United star Antony ahead of Tuesday evening’s Carabao Cup tie against Barnsley at Old Trafford.
United returned to winning ways on Saturday as they beat Southampton 3-0 at St Mary’s and they begin their quest to land the first silverware of the season against the League One outfit.
Brazilian winger Antony hasn’t had the best start to the campaign and he’s featured just once, as an 89th minute substitute in the defeat to Brighton and will be hoping for an opportunity in the cup.
Ten Hag sends message to Antony
Ten Hag has preferred using Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo in the wide areas over the Brazil international, but the game against Barnsley offers the 24-year-old a chance to get his first start of the season.
However, speaking ahead of the game Ten Hag had a stern warning for the winger and said he needs to earn the right to play and show the right attitude.
“Tomorrow you will see what the line-up will be,” he told reporters.
“We have training every day and the players have to earn the right to play. When players do the right thing in training and the attitude is good, and when they show performance in training then they will earn the right to play.”
It’s fair to say since Antony arrived from Ajax for around £86m in 2022 he hasn’t lived up to expectations and has failed to make an impact at Old Trafford.
In fact the former Ajax man scored just three goals in 38 appearances in all competitions last season, two of which were against League Two Newport in the FA Cup.
It feels like chances are going to be few and far between for Antony this season and when handed them he really needs to make the most of them as it’s not clear when he will next get an opportunity.
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