Jadon Sancho claimed he has been “a scapegoat for a long time” as the Manchester United winger hit back at boss Erik ten Hag for saying he was dropped for the Arsenal game because of poor training performances.

The 23-year-old did not travel to north London for Sunday’s Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, where two stoppage-time goals condemned the Red Devils to a 3-1 defeat.

Sancho was conspicuous by his absence from the squad having come off the bench in their first three matches, with Ten Hag revealing afterwards that he was dropped due to sub-par training.

“Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him,” the United boss said after the defeat.

“You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game he was not selected.”

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sancho said: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.

“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, l’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair! “All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team.

“I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and (am) grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge.

“I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”

Sancho has struggled for consistent form since moving to Old Trafford for Borussia Dortmund for £73million in 2021. The England international has scored 12 goals in 82 appearances in all competitions for the Red Devils.

He started Ten Hag’s first season brightly but did not feature from October 22 until February 1 – a period that saw him watch the World Cup from afar and do an individual winter fitness programme in the Netherlands.

Sancho played in the Carabao Cup final win against Newcastle after returning and ended the campaign with seven goals and three assists.