Erik ten Hag has hinted at biggest Manchester United change coming this summer

Manchester United's list of absences for Monday's trip to Crystal Palace could again be around double figures and when even Bruno Fernandes is injured, you know you have a problem.

In a revealing half-hour interview with Gary Neville for Sky Sports, Erik ten Hag once again lamented the injury record that has wrecked his plans this season. United have had 61 separate injuries, forcing first-team players to miss more than 350 matches.

Fernandes is one of the few to have avoided missing a game but after playing through the pain barrier he is now facing a late fitness test to play at Selhurst Park. His absence would be a significant blow to Ten Hag in a game that is shaping up to be vital.

United could find themselves down in eighth on Monday night and they need to start firing to guarantee European qualification, never mind building up a head of steam ahead of a date at Wembley with Manchester City later this month.

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That is easier said than done when you remain so stretched, particularly at left-back and centre-back, and if the most creative player is absent on Monday it is another challenge to overcome. Injuries have played a major part in what has happened this season and plenty of them have been picked up during training at Carrington.

In his interview with Sky Sports, Ten Hag again put the issue down to luck and even claimed it was because things were going poorly on the pitch.

"We do research, but a lot also has to do with bad luck. When you are in a season and the results are not going in a particular way you will also see you pick up more injuries than in a season when everything goes right," he said.

"But we are still there in the season, we have four games to go, a cup final to play, players are returning and that gives us a good mood into those four next games and the cup final."

For a man so obsessed with details, that answer doesn't stack up. Surely Ten Hag isn't just shrugging his shoulders when he sees so many players heading to the medical room?

Maybe another part of that interview with Neville shed more light on the issue. When he was asked about plans for the summer, Ten Hag talked about transfers, but also said one target was to "create an environment that avoids this year's problems with injuries".

You could read plenty into that line. With modern sports science and with training loads so carefully managed, United should have an understanding of why these injuries have been occurring. Is the "environment" that needs to change related to something happening at training, to workloads or is it a suggestion the squad just isn't pushing through the pain barrier? Whatever the answer, it is more than bad luck and Ten Hag must know that.

Getting to the bottom of it will be the challenge this summer and it is one new technical director Jason Wilcox will be exploring. United cannot afford another campaign like this, especially if they go into next season with a smaller squad.

That is a distinct possibility ahead of a window when they will need to sell to buy. Putting this season's remarkable run of injuries down to pure bad luck is too big a risk to take.