Manchester United defender Victor Lindelof says he is confident of making a quick recovery after being sidelined with a back injury. The artificial pitch that the Red Devils played on in the 0-0 draw against Alkmaar last week reportedly caused the issue and he missed the defeat to Newcastle as a result.

The 25-year-old is in Sweden’s squad for their games against Malta on Saturday and Spain on Tuesday, and the centre-back believes he could play in both games:

“Do I play? It’s up to Janne Andersson (Sweden manager) and obviously up to my body. If I feel it’s holding up, I want to play both matches if Janne wants it. We simply have to see and take it day by day on how my body feels.”

“Today, I went on the pitch a bit and tested different movements with the ball and such. We’ll see how it feels when I wake up tomorrow and if there’s any difference, but hopefully, I can join the team tomorrow, but we’ll see.”

Paul Pogba faces a battle to be fit for United’s game against Liverpool after the international break. He fractured a toe in the Carabao Cup win against Rochdale which was made worse by playing in the 1-1 draw against Arsenal.

Recovery time is expected to be two to three weeks which makes him a major doubt for the clash at Old Trafford on Sunday week.

Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could have Aaron Wan-Bissaka (illness) and Anthony Martial (thigh) back for the Liverpool game, but there are still doubts over Mason Greenwood (back), Jesse Lingard (hamstring) and Phil Jones.

Diogo Dalot (groin), Eric Bailly and Timothy Fosu-Mensah (both knee) have all been ruled out.