Erik ten Hag hopes to have a more stable squad to pick from throughout the winter period after falling victim to endless injury issues throughout the season so far.

Manchester United have been incredibly unfortunate with injuries since the campaign kicked off, losing the likes of Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and summer signing Rasmus Hojlund to long-term injuries. Ten Hag has often been forced into making multiple changes from game to game and form has suffered as a result.

United have endured a torrid start to the season, losing nine of their opening 18 matches across all competitions. They face a huge task progressing in their Champions League group and are far adrift of the Premier League's top four.

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But after two weeks of international football United welcomed Shaw back into training and, apart from Andre Onana, look to have picked up no new concerns. And Ten Hag is hoping that consistency in the squad can breed consistency in results.

“We are, say, one-third [through the season],” Ten Hag told beIN SPORTS. “It was a tough start, as we've seen, but I think we are catching up. And from the last five games we’ve won four. So we are in a good mood and I think we are [heading] in the right direction.

“So, before we go into that intense program in December, I think we're building and we're building confidence. We're building strong belief, and we're building also some routines.

“And now we hope we can more or less stay with the same line-up or with 12 to 14 players, while constructing the line-up, because I think so far that was our difficulty. Every time we had to change and we don't develop routines. Every time we had to change.”

United's non-international players were in training on Wednesday.

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Despite missing a number of key players from week-to-week, United have put together a good run of results domestically and are the Premier League's in-form team over the last five games. They are still sixth but have climbed in recent weeks, and Ten Hag insists it is a sign of better things to come.

"Well, I'm sure there's more to come, but still it's a good, good sign," the Dutchman added. “It's a good sign that we are progressing.

“But, also, you see that our competitors are also dropping points and there are no easy games in the Premier League and everyone will drop points at a certain point. So, make sure you get consistency in and don't look too much at all the noise in the background, as they will also drop points.”