Ange confirms van de Ven went off with cramp as he praises return in draw at Old Trafford

Ange Postecoglou said he ‘can’t speak highly enough’ of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero after the pair were back together in defence for the first time since November in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Manchester United.

It’s 10 weeks since Micky pulled up with a hamstring injury against Chelsea - 6 November. At the same time, Cuti has been sidelined since picking up an injury against Everton on 23 December.

Micky was back on the bench for last week’s FA Cup tie against Burnley, Cuti returned to training last week and both were back in the side for this huge clash at Old Trafford.

The Dutch defender looked like he'd never been away with a typically assured display, including one trademark, perfectly-timed tackle as Alejandro Garnacho threatened to break in the second half, before a touch of cramp ended his night in the 89th minute.

Meanwhile, Cuti clattered the crossbar in the first half as we came from behind twice to secure a point in a game we dominated for large periods - we had more possession (64%), more passes (481-232) and more efforts at goal (16-9) – as goals from Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur - from debutant Timo Werner’s assist - ensured we took some deserved reward back to N17.

Speaking to our Review Show, Ange updated us on Micky: “It was cramp, yes. He gave everything. Micky and Romero, to come in literally with a week’s training and perform like that here, I can’t speak highly enough of them. They both got through the game okay.”