United's man o' war Dalot ready for battle with City

Full-back says determination comes from being Portuguese

- RICHARD JOLLY

There aren't too many at Old Trafford who, as it stands, will look back on this season fondly. Yet there is a still smaller group of Manchester United players: those who have been fit for all of it.

Erik ten Hag’s results are wildly inconsistent but he shows consistency in citing their injuries. United have had more than 60; many lasting longer than originally forecast, sometimes taking out most or all of the players from one position. It got to the stage where even the seemingly indestructible Bruno Fernandes missed a couple of games.

It leaves a trio as the last men standing: only goalkeeper Andre Onana, Alejandro Garnacho and Diogo Dalot have not been injured. The full-back has leapfrogged the ubiquitous Fernandes to play the most minutes among outfield players, some 4,274. He has only sat out two of United’s 51 matches: when he was suspended at West Ham in December, following his dismissal for dissent at Anfield, and when he was an unused substitute on the opening night against Wolves. He has started 47 of the last 49, including 25 in a row. He has not missed a minute since January.

“I’ve become a bit more obsessed about being physically and mentally available for every game,” says Dalot; it may be an approach some of his teammates could do with copying. Dalot sees it as a Portuguese trait. In different ways, he has been influenced by three of his compatriots: by Fernandes, Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho, who brought him to Old Trafford and tipped him to be United’s right-back for a decade.