Man Utd suffer double injury blow ahead of Europa League clash at Partizan Belgrade
Manchester, Wednseday
Paul Pogba and David De Gea were among the players missing as Manchester United trained on Wednesday morning ahead of their Europa League clash against Partizan Belgrade.
The Red Devils head into the European showdown in Serbia on the back of a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Premier League title-chasers Liverpool on Sunday.
Indeed, it was an impressive showing from a Red Devils side who have endured their worst start to a Premier League season for 30 years.
And, despite their injury concerns, they looked to be full of confidence as under-fire boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer put his team through their paces at their Carrington training base.
Jesse Lingard trained with United’s players as he looks to make a return from injury while youngsters Ethan Laird, Brandon Williams and James Garner were all involved.
But it will no doubt be a blow to Solskjaer after Pogba missed the session. The midfielder remains sidelined by a foot problem, having spent time in Dubai during the international break to try to regain fitness.
There was also no sign of De Dea after the goalkeeper made a surprise start in the draw with Liverpool.
De Gea suffered an injury scare while on international duty with Spain earlier this month, appearing to hurt his hamstring in a Euro 2020 qualifier in Sweden, but was able to play in Sunday’s 1-1 draw.
But it appears the Spanish stopper will be rested for the European clash and was therefore not required to take part in the session on Wednesday.
There was also no sign of Luke Shaw or Nemanja Matic, along with injured defenders Axel Tuanzebe, Diogo Dalot, Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah.
Solskjaer is yet to confirm his travelling squad for the clash.
Marcus Rashford, meanwhile, is hoping to see more of a swagger and cutting edge from United - after his first-half strike was cancelled out by Adam Lallana’s late equaliser for Liverpool.
“The second goal would have made the game a lot more simple for us,” the England international said.
“It didn’t come. I’d say 20 minutes before they scored the goal you can see we stopped playing passes in behind, and I always say when we stop doing that it puts more pressure on us as a team.” -AFP
