Man Utd Team News Update: van Gaal Confirms Quadruple Injury Blow Ahead Of West Ham

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has confirmed a quadruple injury blow ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against West Ham.

The Dutchman has been speaking at his pre-match press conference this afternoon ahead of the game and has confirmed to ManUtd.com that Wayne Rooney and Marcos Rojo are both out through injury.

Rooney was forced off during last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Leicester City at the King Power Stadium after picking up what was initially thought to be a minor ankle injury.

However, van Gaal has confirmed the injury is worse than first thought and it looks as though Rooney is facing a spell on the sidelines after the United boss described the injury as ‘nasty’.

van Gaal also confirmed that Rojo has been ruled out after suffering a dislocated shoulder in training this week but it’s still unclear how long the Argentinean international will be on the sidelines for.

Ander Herrera remains unavailable due to an ongoing hamstring concern while van Gaal confirmed that Phil Jones is also still out with an ankle injury. With Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia out with long-term injuries, United go in to the Hammers game without six first team players.

There was some positive news to come from van Gaal’s team news update as he revealed that Jesse Lingard is back in contention after missing last weeks draw with a minor hamstring problem.

He told the clubs website:

“It was already in the media – Rojo has been injured. It’s his shoulder, the same as last year, in a training session. It’s very unfortunate, also in the position of Luke Shaw so I have a great problem.

“Also the injury of Wayne Rooney is more heavy than we thought, so neither can play. It’s a nasty injury. When we go on it’s been getting worse. We have to let him train to make the ankle stronger, that’s very important. I cannot say [how long he’s out for] because the doctor shall decide that with Wayne of course. He is training well in the rehabilitation.”

“That’s it I think. Jesse Lingard is coming back which is good news. Phil Jones is still injured so we have six injuries.”

The loss of Rooney will come as a real blow to United as they have a shortage of options up front – making the decision to send James Wilson out on loan even more bemusing.

The Red Devils head into the weekend action sitting third in the Premier League table, just one point behind leaders Manchester City, so van Gaal will be hoping they can overcome their injury woes to keep the pressure on their rivals with a win over West Ham.