Man Utd Team News: van Gaal Confirms Duo Will Miss Villa & Offers De Gea Update

Manchester United travel to Villa Park to take on Aston Villa on Friday night and Louis van Gaal has given a team news update ahead of the game.

The Dutchman conducted his pre-match press conference this afternoon and confirmed to ManUtd.com that Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo will miss the trip while he also gave an update on David De Gea’s situation.

Jones has been diagnosed with mild thrombosis and is expected to be on the sidelines for around three weeks meaning the defender is unlikely to play again until after the international break next month.

Rojo was left out of the squad that beat Tottenham on the opening day of the new season due to a lack of match fitness following his late arrival to pre-season training after taking part in the Copa America.

van Gaal confirmed that the Argentinean international is working extremely hard to build up his fitness in training, but he’s still not ready to return to the first team fold just yet.

The final update from the United boss concerned De Gea and van Gaal has reiterated that the Spaniard won’t be involved in the first team while his future at the club remains uncertain after leaving his No.1 out of the squad against Spurs.

van Gaal told the clubs website:

“It’s still the same, no injuries – only illness for Phil Jones,”

“It’s very sad, of course, but we’ll have to wait and see how that shall recover.

“Rojo needs more time because he was the last one who came in. He is training double sessions sometimes. He is doing well but he needs more.”

“There’s no difference [in De Gea’s situation]. The transfer period is still open and he has still the same problem.”

De Gea’s continued absence means Sergio Romero is expected to keep his place between the sticks on Friday after keeping a clean sheet during his debut last weekend.

With Jones and Rojo still unavailable, van Gaal is likely to stick with Daley Blind alongside Chris Smalling in the center of defence at Villa Park.