Harry Maguire admits an illness after the World Cup "knocked him back" and hampered his Manchester United ambitions.
The club captain has lost his starting role at Old Trafford since the arrival of Erik ten Hag, which has cast doubt over his future. The centre-half was almost untouchable under the previous regime, even though his form notably declined, but has finally been usurped in the starting XI.
Summer signing Lisandro Martinez has been unable to establish himself, which has left Maguire looking on from the bench. Despite that he still commands a crucial role with England and was a stalwart for the Three Lions at the World Cup.
Ten Hag threw in the former Leicester man for the Carabao Cup win over Charlton on Tuesday night and Maguire bemoaned his recent setback. He told ESPN : "It felt good, I played last week as well against Bournemouth. I was unfortunate in terms of when I come back from the World Cup, I had a bad illness, to be honest, and it knocked me back for one or two weeks."
"I feel good now. We have a lot of good centre halves at this club, there’s a lot of competition for places and I’ll keep fighting." Maguire has been heavily linked with a January move away to Aston Villa as he looks to rediscover his best form.
When fit, Raphael Varane has been Martinez's regular partner. There were doubts as to whether the Argentine would adapt to the Premier League, but the newly crowned World Cup winner has been one of the team's outstanding performers as they continue to make strides under Ten Hag.
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The Dutchman has seen United win eight on the bounce in all competitions as they continue to fight on four fronts. It has justified his selection decisions, some of which has been divisive, as he looks to end the club's trophy drought. Not since Jose Mourinho delivered the Europa League in 2017 have United won a trophy - which Maguire concedes is not acceptable.
"Yeah, it’s really important [winning a trophy], this club demands doing well in all competitions," he added. "Last season, not only were we really poor in the Premier League, we were poor in the cup competitions as well. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win a trophy and this is what this club is about.
"We’ve got to make sure to take each competition seriously. We have done and hopefully, it can continue like that. It’s far too long for this club. The fans demand more, we demand more and hopefully it can change."
