Man Utd Star Offers Positive Update After Injury Scare Ahead Of Everton Clash

Chris Smalling has offered a positive injury update after he appeared to pick up a knock during Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

Smalling once again started at the heart of United’s defence and marshalled the Red Devils to a routine 2-0 win over Palace with a Damien Delaney own goal and a fine strike from Matteo Darmian sealing the three points at Old Trafford.

While the game was relatively straightforward for Louis van Gaal’s men, there were a few worried faces in the crowd after Smalling emerged injured after flying in to a second half tackle and the centre-back was seen limping during the closing stages of the match.

It led to question marks over whether the England international would be fit for United’s huge FA Cup semi-final clash with Everton on Saturday afternoon, however, Smalling has now moved to play down the injury after confirming the issue is nothing serious.

Smalling told ManUtd.com:

“Yeah I’ll be fine. It was just a 50/50 and he caught me after, but it’s nothing serious.”

The news will come as a welcome relief to van Gaal as Smalling has been outstanding at the back this season and has played a key role in helping United to 17 clean sheets in their 34 Premier League games so far.

And that’s a record that Smalling says the team are proud of. He continued:

“The defensive record is something we’re proud of as a team, and especially as a back four, because that’s our job, it’s nice to get another clean sheet,”

“We keep each other in line and keep talking, because we don’t want our concentration to slip.”

The win over Palace last night boosted United’s hopes of securing Champions League qualification as it saw them move to within just a single point of fourth-placed Arsenal ahead of their clash with West Brom tonight.

However, their focus will now turn to Saturday’s huge semi final with Everton as van Gaal takes his squad to Wembley looking to go one step closer to lifting the FA Cup for the first time since 2004.