Erik ten Hag drops hint about who his preferred striker is between Manchester United stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford 

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has hinted that he prefers playing Anthony Martial as No. 9 over Cristiano Ronaldo or Marcus Rashford.

The French forward made his return from injury during the Red Devils' Carabao Cup clash with Aston Villa on November 10. Martial scored in a 4-2 victory at Old Trafford. He netted his fourth goal in six appearances across all competitions in a season that has been ravaged by injury.

Martial looked set to become Manchester United's first-choice striker following a superb pre-season. However, he has been unable to play for the majority of the campaign due to injuries.

That has led to Ronaldo and Rashford playing upfront for Ten Hag, but the Dutch boss feels Martial offers the team more.

The Manchester United boss told a press conference (as per The Manchester Evening News):

"Definitely, he plays very well in a lot of aspects of football, I’m happy with that, except his availability. But we also have others and we have played with Marcus Rashford as the nine. We also have Cristiano Ronaldo, so we have more options there."

He added:

"It’s quite clear in my way of playing, I like the type that Anthony Martial is because he can hold the ball, he’s a target, he can link up, he can also run behind, he has speed, he can finish and he’s a good presser.”

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Erik ten Hag admits lack of fitness for Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United's strikers is a problem

Rashford, Ronaldo, and Martial have all missed periods of the current season either due to lack of fitness or injuries. That is becoming a major concern for the Manchester United boss, who relies heavily on his striker to press the opposition backline.

Ten Hag conceded in his press conference that his forward's inability to stay fit is becoming a concern, as he admitted:

“Yes, definitely, yeah. In the front line, the availability of the players - that is a concern for us. We had so many games, like Newcastle United, Marcus Rashford ill (but came on). We had to play some other games where we have to improvise to construct a proper offensive line."

He added:

"If you can’t do that, then it’s really difficult to get into the first four, if you don’t have the players to construct a proper offensive line. Of course, we analyse that as well, he’s (Martial) analysing that, what can we do to change that? We took some measures to do that, so it’s always when you often have injuries and illness, there is a reason."