Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed there has been no let-up in Manchester United’s injury crisis ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Crystal Palace.
United made three changes in the first half against Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday as Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and substitute Jesse Lingard were all forced off in the crunch clash, meaning Marcus Rashford had to hobble through the rest of the match with a problem of his own.
Solskjaer’s men are back in action at Palace on Wednesday and it appears that game is going to come too soon for several of his stars.
United are waiting to assess Rashford, but Solskjaer’s outlook on the side’s various issues was pessimistic on Tuesday.
“We’ve not had a session yet so I don’t think there are a lot of positives, no,” he told a pre-match news conference.
“I don’t know the list that’s supposed to be injured.
“Matteo [Darmian] trained the other day, but I don’t think he’ll be ready. [Marcus] Rojo has been training, so hopefully he will be involved.
“With Rashy, we’re still waiting to see how his ankle is responding to the treatment. But the muscle injuries are too early to think about. That’s it. There’s quite a few out.”
Going into detail on some of the other absentees, Solskjaer continued: “Phil [Jones] was ill one of these days, so he’s been out for a little while as well with an illness.
“Luckily, at centre-back, there are quite a few fit ones. [Eric] Bailly, [Chris] Smalling and [Victor] Lindelof, the three of them are ready.
“[Antonio] Valencia is a bit off because he did his calf again. He’s started running, but he’s still a few weeks off.
“[Anthony] Martial is not going to be ready for this one either – we can’t risk it. Maybe Southampton [on Saturday, he will be back] but we’re not going to risk another one too early.
“In hindsight, maybe you can say Jesse was overeager [on Sunday]. He ticked all the boxes in training, had done all the recovery work and rehab, but maybe it was a couple of days too early. Then again, it was Liverpool and he was desperate to be part of it.”
Joking about the lengths United will have to go to form a squad on Wednesday, Solskjaer, 46, added of his own involvement: “I don’t think age is the problem. The problem is my fitness.”
At the other end of the spectrum, though, the United boss confirmed that some of the club’s younger players had joined in training and would be involved at Selhurst Park.