David de Gea reveals Man Utd's plan to cope without Casemiro & Christian Eriksen

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has backed a deeper squad – including new loan signing Marcel Sabitzer – to step up and minimise the blows of losing Christian Eriksen and Casemiro.

After joining the Red Devils in the summer, Eriksen and Casemiro have become Erik ten Hag’s preferred midfield pairing.

However, the Dane has been ruled out until the end of April or start of May with an ankle injury, while the Brazilian has picked up a three-match domestic suspension after being sent off against Crystal Palace on Saturday.

Speaking after that narrow 2-1 win at Old Trafford, De Gea admitted losing two key players is a blow, but has backed his teammates to step up and help United survive in their absence.

“It’s going to be tough for sure. We already lost Christian, now Casemiro: big players for us,” De Gea said.

“But we have a bigger squad, players are ready to play, everyone is really focused. Sabitzer showed already – he played 15 to 20 minutes and he did really well, made some good tackles, he is good with the ball. And, everyone is ready to play.”

“[Sabitzer is] an experienced guy – he played a lot of games in the Bundesliga, is a nice guy – it’s good for the dressing room. It’s not easy to come in a game when we’re one man less, he showed good spirit, he’s going to help the team a lot.”

Sabitzer moved to United on deadline day after the opportunity to leave Bayern Munich on loan emerged as an option.