Bruno Fernandes played through injury against Nottingham Forest (Picture: Getty Images)
Erik ten Hag has hit out at ‘pathetic’ criticism of Bruno Fernandes on social media, saying the Manchester United captain played through a ‘serious injury’ in Wednesday night’s win over Nottingham Forest.
Fernandes was a doubt for the match at the City Ground but played the full 90 minutes as the Red Devils won 1-0 in the fifth round tie in the FA Cup.
Raphael Varane was also not fully fit, but played the match, with Ten Hag saying before the game: ‘We have players who are not 100% fit but we have to deal with it.’
After the victory, thanks to a late Casemiro goal, Ten Hag said Fernandes’ injury was a serious one and he felt that Forest were trying to make it worse.
Asked what injury the midfielder is dealing with, he said: ‘I don’t go into that. You saw that Forest were targeting him. I don’t say what it is, but it was a serious injury. I see social media criticise him. It is pathetic.
‘He has a serious injury, he continued to play on Saturday [against Fulham] and then also he fought to be part of this game. He has a very high pain threshold.
‘Last year, he did something similar against Spurs and I think in the semi-final. It shows his leadership.’
Ten Hag would not reveal the injury Fernandes is dealing with (Picture: Getty Images)
On Fernandes being targeted by his opponents, Ten Hag added: ‘There were many fouls on him. You see when he is getting the ball, they are really tight on him.’
After the contest Fernandes was seen limping out of the stadium, although Ten Hag will be hoping he will be fine to play in the Manchester derby on Sunday.
It was the Portuguese star who put in the free-kick which Casemiro headed home late on and Ten Hag was pleased to see him get his reward for playing through the pain.
‘I am very happy that Rapha fought to play his game and Bruno he had a very bad injury as well,’ he said. ‘He fought to be part of the game. I am very pleased for him, to have an assist on the goal of Casemiro.’
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