Erik ten Hag has no complaints with Manchester United's fixture schedule and insists his squad is deep enough to cope with challenging on multiple fronts in the second half of the season.
United beat Reading 3-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday to advance to the last 16 of the FA Cup, while Wednesday's 3-0 first-leg win over Nottingham Forest means they are all but assured of a place in the EFL Cup final.
The Red Devils are also still in Europa League contention, with a knockout play-off round tie against Barcelona on the horizon, and are fourth in the Premier League with 18 games to go.
Ten Hag's side potentially have nine matches to come in February, but the Dutchman considers that a positive as United bid to end a six-year wait for a trophy.
"I don't complain," he told reporters. "We know what the fixture schedule is; we have to deal with this.
"At clubs we have to set squads and squads are big enough to deal with it and I think players like to play.
"You can build and construct a good team when you play often and, in my perspective, when you play often the same you are getting the routines in."
Ten Hag surprised many by naming a strong starting line-up against Championship side Reading, with Harry Maguire coming into the side as the only change from the Forest match, which followed on from a 3-2 league loss at Arsenal.
"If you see everything in the perspective of the result, after a defeat we've bounced back," Ten Hag said. "I was happy with the performance at Arsenal, but we made mistakes.
"We have to work on those mistakes but now twice we have had good performances and two good results."
Casemiro's second-half double and a neat finish from Fred earned United victory over Reading, who had Andy Carroll sent off but pulled one back through Amadou Salif Mbengue.
United lost key midfielder Christian Eriksen to injury prior to the hour mark, but Ten Hag says it is too early to determine if the Denmark international is going to spend any time on the sidelines.
"It's always difficult to say in this moment so short after the game has finished," he said.
"But it's an ankle [problem]. We have to see what the diagnosis is, so it will be a minimum of 24 hours before we know that and then I can say more."
United are back in action on Wednesday with the second leg of their EFL Cup semi-final against Forest, before returning to league action at home to Crystal Palace next weekend.
Nagelsmann: Football must take inspiration from NBA, NFL over schedule
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann says football's decision-makers must introduce longer breaks between competitions, with players threatening to strike over the packed schedule.
Debates over fixture congestion at the elite level have intensified in recent months, with FIFA's decision to organise an expanded Club World Cup a particularly thorny issue.
The inaugural 32-team tournament – which will be held in the United States at the end of the club season – will add another seven matches to some teams' fixture lists, while UEFA has also added two extra matches to the first phase of the Champions League.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri recently talked up the prospect of players taking strike action over a lack of rest time, but Nagelsmann does not envisage the number of games being reduced.
Speaking ahead of Friday's Nations League clash with Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Germany boss called on organisers to look to American sports for inspiration when it comes to recovery times.
"I have often said that I won't complain about the calendar. A lot of matches are financing this sport," Nagelsmann said at his pre-match press conference.
"You have to have a healthy balance. I don't think there will be fewer games in the future.
"There will be more matches and we should be talking about how to structure the breaks [between competitions]."
Pointing to the way the NBA and NFL manage player workloads, he added: "NBA players play 85 games or so but then have a long break.
"The NFL has a long break. We don't have that in football. The players just don't get any break."
Koeman urges Netherlands to maintain positive Nations League start against Hungary
Ronald Koeman can see "the bar going up in training" as he challenged the Netherlands to build on their momentum against Hungary.
The Oranje, who reached the Euro 2024 semi-finals, have made an unbeaten start to their Nations League Group campaign with four points from their opening two Group A3 matches.
After opening with a 5-2 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Dutch then played out a 2-2 draw with Germany.
Next up for Koeman's side is a trip to the Puskas Arena to face Hungary on Friday, and the head coach wants his players to keep building on the positive aspects of their performances so far.
"I've showed the players what was good and why it was good. The football was good," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference.
"We always had depth in our game, created many chances and the transitions were very good. I want us to keep that up. The energy was also good, and I saw that this week in training, too.
"I see that the bar is going up in the training. There is a lot of competition for places. We've had quite a few injuries at the back and in midfield, which gives others a chance."
The Netherlands will be the favourites to take all three points, but Koeman is not underestimating the Magyars, who defeated England twice and Germany during the last edition of the Nations League.
"To be honest, I was quite surprised that Hungary had a good chance of reaching the final four," he added.
"They still have many of the same players. I don't understand why their recent results have not been as impressive, but we should not think that we are just easily going to win this."
Man Utd's Mazraoui sidelined after undergoing heart surgery
Manchester United full-back Noussair Mazraoui will be absent for several weeks after undergoing a minor heart procedure.
Mazraoui joined United from Bayern Munich in a deal worth an initial £12.8million (€15m) in August and has quickly established himself as the Red Devils' first-choice right-back.
He has started all seven of their Premier League games this season, with Erik ten Hag's men taking just eight points to record their worst-ever start to a campaign in the competition.
On Monday, he withdrew from Morocco's squad for two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Central African Republic, having experienced heart palpitations.
Widespread reports on Thursday then said Mazraoui had successfully undergone a corrective procedure and would return within a few weeks.
Mazraoui was withdrawn at half-time in United's goalless draw with Aston Villa on Sunday, with Harry Maguire also replaced at the interval.
Leny Yoro, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are long-term absentees, meanwhile, leaving Ten Hag's men short in defence ahead of their return to action against Brentford on October 19.
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