Erik ten Hag explains why Casemiro is on the bench for Manchester United for Southampton Premier League clash

Erik ten Hag has spoken ahead of Manchester United's Premier League fixture against Southampton.

The Dutch manager has explained his line-up choices as the XI remains unchanged from Monday's victory over Liverpool.

Casemiro is on the bench after signing from Real Madrid for around £60 million on Monday, and although fans are disappointed that the Brazilian isn't starting, the manager has confirmed why he has made this decision.

Speaking to MUTV ahead of the fixture, Erik ten Hag said on new signing Casemiro: "I think we have a squad that’s competitive so it’s always a difficult decision but we had a really good performance on Monday so you stick with it.

"It’s also to give Casemiro the time, he’s not played 90 minutes, he has to adapt to England, adapt to Man United and integrate into the team."

"I think we have a squad that’s competitive so it’s always a difficult decision (on who to start)," Ten Hag continued.

"But we had a really good performance on Monday so you stick with it."

Speaking ahead of this fixture, Erik ten Hag said in his pre-match press conference about Southampton on Friday: "It's a different challenge so I'm really curious: did we learn the lesson from Brentford? Because this will be more or less the same approach.

"It's about transition, it's about running, it's about battling and fighting, and then we have to make it our game. So it's a real challenge for us to do that."

"The spirit was already good, but now it is even better (after the Liverpool victory). But it's only one game, so we have to build further. We have to develop and I think everyone is aware of that."

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Speaking further on the Liverpool victory, Ten Hag said: "Yeah, I think it helps of course, because as I said before the game, Liverpool is – especially last year – the best playing football team for me in the world, and when you beat them it must give a lot of confidence."