Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has confirmed that Luke Shaw was substituted at half-time against Aston Villa as a “precaution”.
The defender has had a succession of muscular injuries this season and ten Hag said that the club would not take a risk on his fitness after the defender felt a twinge during the first half of the game on Sunday:
“[It] was [a] precaution, Luke Shaw, he gave some messages about complaints. With Luke Shaw, we know his history with too many injuries and we couldn’t go into that risk. A very important game but we can’t miss him for six weeks.”
The left-back will undergo an assessment but it’s likely that he will sit out United’s next fixture against Luton Town.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has had a setback in his recovery. The club have not been forthcoming on what type of injury the fullback has sustained but, after returning to training last week, he was forced to drop out. Ten Hag says he has not received a diagnosis about what the new problem is yet. The 26-year-old has not played since the 2-2 draw against Tottenham which means he has already been sidelined for almost a month.
Expected Return Date – Saturday 24th February v Fulham
Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia are both back out training on the grass, but ten Hag has not given a timescale on when the pair could be ready to make their first-team comebacks.
In terms of Mount, ten Hag has made it clear that the former Chelsea player will only return to action once he has fully recovered from a calf problem that has kept him out since November.
Malacia, meanwhile, will need time to build up his match fitness, having not played this season after undergoing a knee operation in the summer.
Expected Return Date – Wednesday 28th February v Nottingham Forest (FA Cup)
Lisandro Martinez is out for two months, having sustained medial knee ligament damage against West Ham at the start of February.
Anthony Martial had surgery on a groin injury a fortnight ago, and he was estimated to be out for ten weeks, Both players could return at the same time.
