Man Utd team news: OGS confirms double boost but 4 other players ruled out of Astana

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided a mixed team news update ahead of Manchester United’s Europa League group stage opener against Astana.

The Reds welcome the Kazakhstan minnows to Old Trafford on Thursday night and Solskjaer confirmed at his pre-match press conference this afternoon that Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw and Daniel James are set to miss the game.

Pogba has been struggling with an ankle injury in recent weeks while Martial has missed the last three matches with a thigh problem and neither player is expected to be available tomorrow after failing to take part in full training today.

Shaw is also ruled out once again due to a hamstring injury that’s hampered him recently while the United boss also revealed a fresh injury blow with the news that James missed training today due to a knock.

The winger is expected to sit out the visit of Astana tomorrow night but Solskjaer is hopeful he’ll be in contention for Manchester United’s trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham on Sunday.

There was some positive news to come from Solskjaer’s update as he confirmed that Jesse Lingard is available again after overcoming illness while Diogo Dalot will return to the United squad tomorrow after recovering from a niggling groin injury.

Solskjaer told ManUtd.com:

“We still have a few players out. Jesse is back, which is great. He had a bad time when he was with England but, hopefully, we’ll get him on the pitch to try to kickstart his season again.

”The youngsters are raring to go. They all want to play. But I don’t think we’ll see Paul or Anthony, I’m sure we won’t see them. Luke is not ready yet. Dan is touch and go. He missed training today and [his recovery] might be longer than expected but hopefully [he’ll be back for] the weekend.

“Diogo is back. He’s been training for a little while now but we needed assurances before we threw him in. We probably could have had him on the bench against Leicester last time, but now he’s ready.

”I think it’s a chance for me to use the squad and give some minutes, of course, to some of the young players. We all know, if they take a chance, it might be the start of something big. Hopefully, we can see the young kids go out and enjoy themselves.

Elsewhere, Eric Bailly and Tim Fosu-Mensah remain out with long-term injuries so they won’t be available as Solskjaer prepares to shuffle his pack in order to give some of his key players a rest ahead of the West Ham game.

Sergio Romero is set to start in goal and the likes of Phil Jones and Fred are also expected to start while youngsters Mason Greenwood, Axel Tuanzebe, Angel Gomes, James Garner and Tahith Chong will be hoping to feature against Astana.