Manchester United are set to be without South American duo Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez for the remainder of the year.
Martinez was always a doubt the remaining fixtures of 2023 after undergoing a second round of surgery on a metatarsal injury he initially sustained in April, while Casemiro picked up a hamstring injury against Newcastle last night.
It goes without saying that losing key players is a blow for United, but Erik ten Hag has had many injuries to deal with this season and that may be the biggest reason for our slow start to the campaign.
Reporters asked Ten Hag if he is expecting players to return after the international break. United take on Copenhagen tomorrow night and Luton Town at the weekend before a number of our players take off for international duty.
“I have some time schedules, yeah, but it’s always difficult to predict that because they can get setbacks during the rehab period so I’m always holding back a little bit on some issues,” Ten Hag said, as per the Manchester Evening News.
“I expect some back but Casemiro and Martinez are really strong injuries and I don’t expect them back before Christmas. It’s several weeks.”
Ten Hag will be hoping that Tyrell Malacia and Luke Shaw can return after the internationals.
Meanwhile, the manager confirmed that Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford will be fit to face Copenhagen. The latter missed the 1-0 win over Fulham on Saturday due to a knock he sustained in training.
“We did all the protocols during the game, after the game, so he (Maguire) is ready to play,” Ten Hag added. “Rashford? 100% [fit]. Harry was fine in the game, so no problems.
“He played a very good game. Rashy missed one game out, a small knock but he’s back.”
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