Darren Fletcher has confirmed Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes is fit to face Burnley on Wednesday night, while he called it an “amazing honour” to be put in temporary charge after Ruben Amorim’s dismissal.
Fletcher, United’s former technical director, an academy coach and the current U18s manager, faced the media on Tuesday evening for the first time in his new role, less than 24 hours after Amorim was squeezed out of Old Trafford after disagreement with the club’s hierarchy.
“It is an amazing honour to lead a Manchester United team especially as it was not in my wildest dreams that would be something which could potentially happen,” he told reporters.
“To lead out the team is an amazing honour and something I am really proud to do but not in the circumstances I expected it to, so that is something which doesn’t sit quite easy with me,” he added, admitting the difficulty of the situation the club finds itself in.
“But I’ve just got to think I have a job to do and I just have to lead the team tomorrow [against Burnley] and think of the great honour and pride in doing that.
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Fletcher, who will be assisted by Travis Binnion—United’s U21 manager, U21 assistant Alan Wright and former teammate Jonny Evans, was unsurprisingly pressed on the length of his appointment. At present, he will be in charge for at least the Burnley clash, with United planning to have an interim manager in place until the end of the season, before a permanent hire in summer.
BBC Sport writes that Fletcher is among three club legends with whom “preliminary talks” have been held over becoming interim manager until the end of the season. Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick, who had three games as a caretaker in 2021, are the other two.
His response to such questions remained diplomatic, trained on 90 minutes of football instead.
Six Potential Replacements for Ruben Amorim As Man Utd Manager. dark. Next. Amorim replacements
“Focus on this game and then speak after the game,” Fletcher said about having the job longer.
“It all happened very quickly on Monday with a game to prepare and a quick turnaround, training session to organise, speak to the players. The focus is on the Burnley game as I think that we give the Burnley match the respect and focus it deserves to prepare the team in such a short space of time.
“Honestly it is not what I have thought about. Focusing on Burnley, that discussion is for after the game. It has all happened so quickly so all my concentration is on Burnley. I know it is a generic answer but it is what it is.”
Fernandes was ruled out of Amorim’s final three games because of a rare injury absence. The captain was missed, with United netting only three times in those three fixtures, compared to 10 in the previous three that he played. But Fernandes has been declared fit.
“Mason [Mount] and Bruno were pushing to play against Leeds and the decision was that they weren’t quite ready. They have trained and they should be back in the squad,” Fletcher confirmed.
“They are on managed minutes and restricted minutes because they have only just returned to training so that is good news, especially because they are players who have been in good form. Mason Mount’s form has been fantastic and Bruno Fernandes … you don’t have to speak about him.
“He’s the captain, the leader of the team. To have them available for selection is obviously great news for me, the players and the club and the fans.”
