Ten Hag says he relishes the intense schedule just like Sir Alex Ferguson

started February with a 2-0 win at home against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup semi-final. They will play another seven matches this month, including two matches against Barcelona in the Europa League and also the EFL Cup final against Newcastle.

Ten Hag’s side will play at least 55 games this season, and could have as many as 65 if they manage to reach the Europa League and FA Cup finals.

Ahead of the game against Crystal Palace on Saturday,

was asked whether he agrees with Sir Alex Ferguson that playing twice every week is a good test for his team.

"Yeah, I think so, and that is the right approach not to get distracted by anything and keep the momentum going,"

the Dutchman said.

"We have that in our hands and we can influence that, our team performance and individual performance and that is our demand.

"We have to see [how the squad depth is]. We construct a squad and also invested in the summer. From that point on it's about developing a team and that has to come on the training ground and come in the matches that you develop your team.

"That's the advantage of so many matches; that every time you can work on it and don't have to wait so long. If you have to cover many matches, you also have the chance to improve your matches and your game quite quickly and I think that's what we see in this moment.

"Of course, we need players to cover that because there is a limit on every player but I think we have a depth in our squad. Maybe not that far as other teams but that also has something to do with your approach to it and how you do your load management. If you do that right, I think we can go far.

"I don't prefer a huge squad but also that gives problems. In the front line until now we had some problems with quantity. Not in the quality but with the availability of the players. You definitely need numbers there if you want to cover all the games and you want to be successful."

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