Man Utd Team News: van Gaal Confirms Triple Injury Blow Ahead Of Southampton Game

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has confirmed a triple injury blow ahead of the Red Devils Premier League clash with Southampton this weekend.

United welcome the Saints to Old Trafford tomorrow afternoon and van Gaal has revealed that Ashley Young is facing an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering a groin injury during the 1-0 win over Liverpool last Sunday.

Young was forced off just before half-time at Anfield and van Gaal has confirmed that it’s a ‘severe’ injury that will require surgery – ruling the 30-year-old ouy for the foreseeable future.

There was further bad news as Bastian Schweinsteiger has also been ruled out of the Southampton game as the German international is still nursing a knee injury that he suffered during the FA Cup win over Sheffield United earlier this month.

In a triple blow, the United boss also confirmed that Phil Jones will miss out once again this weekend as the defender is struggling to overcome a foot injury that’s hampered him in recent weeks.

However, it wasn’t all bad news as van Gaal did reveal that Adnan Januzaj is fit and available for selection after improving his match fitness with a run-out for the under-21’s in midweek following his return from loan at Borussia Dortmund.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference this afternoon, van Gaal told ManUtd.com:

“Ashley Young has a severe groin injury, it shall be operated on, so he’s [out] for a long time,”

“It’s unbelievable, but we’re not lucky with that. Jones and Schweinsteiger cannot come back this weekend. You can count it and we have seven injuries.”

“I think that he [Januzaj] is available. He made his work in the training sessions and he has played one match, which is not much of course. He needs to play more matches, but he is available.”

With Young unavailable, youngster Cameron Borthwick-Jackson is set to deputise at left-back against Southampton after putting in an impressive display against Liverpool last weekend.

The loss of Schweinsteiger again will be a huge blow as United have missed his presence in the middle of the park in recent games, but Michael Carrick could come back in to play alongside Morgan Schneiderlin tomorrow afternoon.