Scott McTominay and Victor Lindelof are unavailable for Manchester United's match against Nottingham Forest due to illness.
United return to Premier League action against Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night and Ten Hag has made multiple changes from last week's victory against Burnley in the League Cup, with his hand forced to an extent due to an illness in the squad.
McTominay and Lindelof both started against Burnley but they have been sidelined for the visit of Steve Cooper's side, while club captain Harry Maguire has been named on the bench after struggling to recover from his bout of sickness.
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That means Raphael Varane and Luke Shaw will start in the centre of defence, with the latter moving from his left-back position. Shaw has played at centre-back for England but that has been in a three-man defence with wing-backs on either side.
With Varane and Shaw in the centre of defence, Ten Hag has started Aaron Wan-Bissaka at right-back and Tyrell Malacia at left-back, which is the Dutchman's first appearance at Old Trafford since travelling to the World Cup with the Netherlands.
There is also a place for Tom Heaton on the bench, rather than Martin Dubravka, who kept a clean sheet last week.
"Martinez is clear [fit] after winning the World Cup, but Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Scott McTominay, they all were ill. Luckily, Harry Maguire recovered from it but he's not ready to start, he can't play 90 minutes," Ten Hag told MUTV.
"That's why he's on the bench and so we have to sort something out, so that's what we did. We have high ambitions and he [Varane] is an important player and not only that, a leader and he took the responsibility of being ready to play.
"Last week, he [Shaw] offered himself in this position [centre-back] and Casemiro did the same. Players are experienced, the know what to do and I'm convinced this is a good line up."
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