Erik ten Hag has dismissed the notion he’s some kind of disciplinary monster following Jadon Sancho’s loan move to Borussia Dortmund.

The Manchester United manager has heard arguments that he’s too strict for modern players after fall-outs with Cristiano Ronaldo and Sancho, who was banished from the first-team squad before finding an escape route to Germany.

‘It’s not about discipline. It’s about normal behaviour. That is what you can expect from a top professional,’ said Ten Hag, whose public criticism of Sancho’s training was refuted by the player on social media.

United have an important game against Tottenham today which should see Sir Jim Ratcliffe present for the first time since he agreed to buy a 25 per cent stake in the club.

Erik ten Hag has dismissed the notion that he’s too strict with his players at Manchester United

Ten Hag banished Jadon Sancho (right) to train with the reserves since their public spat in September, when the Man United winger branded the manager a liar on social media

They sit nine points off a top-four spot and only two teams have scored fewer goals in the Premier League this season.

It’s been a step back from last season when they finished third and won their first trophy since 2017 but Ten Hag says he was ‘expecting’ it.

‘I knew this could happen. You need time to get the progress in, so for me it’s not difficult. I see it very rational,’ he insisted.

‘We didn’t get the points in the season and from there on you get some negativity and some injuries and you get a pattern where a lot is going against you. You have to deal with some setbacks but that belongs to the process.

‘It’s not difficult for me because I could expect from the start of this season, when this happened, a process can go negative and as a manager you have to stay positive.’

Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan until the end of the season last week

Ten Hag and Cristiano Ronaldo fell out last season, with the Portuguese leaving United in November 2022 to join Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia

United’s injury crisis is at last showing signs of easing with Luke Shaw, Lisandro Martinez, Casemiro and Harry Maguire all in the frame to make returns this afternoon.

‘We’ve had to be pragmatic, get as many points as possible and wait until the players are fit,’ added United boss.

‘In the meantime, we’ve worked on individuals to go to a higher level and set conditions for the team to perform better so results will rise again.’

One of the silver linings of United’s depleted squad has been the emergence this season of exciting yonng talents Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.