Manchester United return to Premier League action this afternoon when they host Aston Villa at Old Trafford. The match is United's last before the international break and could decide Michael Carrick's future at the club. A win would give Carrick breathing room, while any other result would put the former midfielder's position in jeopardy.
To give himself the best chance of staying at United, Carrick would want a full squad to choose from. However, several players are sidelined for the match, leaving the head coach with a selection headache. MEN Sport has reviewed the latest injury news from Carrington.
Patrick Dorgu and Carlos Baleba updates
Patrick Dorgu has returned ahead of schedule this week after a thigh injury. Carrick ruled him out of the game against Roma and said on Friday: "Patrick's done a little bit of training this week. As you've seen, he trained with us at the start of the week, very, very small. So we've got to be patient with Pat."
"He's had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage that and be patient with that over the next few weeks as well. But he's slowly getting back with us, so we'll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend or not." His potential return date is November 8 against Aston Villa.
Carlos Baleba is dealing with a hamstring injury. After the win on Tuesday, Carrick could not give a timeline for his return. Following Friday's press conference, he added: "Carlos, we don't know [when he will be back], but it will be a number of weeks. It's definitely not this week, and it won't be any time over the international break. It'll be a little bit longer than that." His return date remains unknown.
Benjamin Sesko and other sidelined players
Benjamin Sesko has a shin injury, and Carrick confirmed his long-term absence last week. He said: "Yeah, unfortunately Ben looks like he's going to be out for a period of time. We're still not clear of exactly how long, but it's going to be for a longer period of time."
"It was the process, as I said to you before, we had to go through the process, a bit of a healing process for the injury to see how it would react and what direction to go with that. Even now we're still working through it." He added: "But it's unfortunate, obviously first and foremost, for Ben, for the kind of period that he's had, and tried to get through it and going through this again. And for us to not have him available is obviously a blow, but we'll try and get back, get him back as quick as we can." His potential return date is January.
Luke Shaw is out with an unknown injury. Carrick confirmed on Monday that Shaw would not be fit this week, meaning his earliest return is after the international break, potentially on November 22 against Liverpool. Marcus Rashford is recovering from a hip injury, assessed 'day by day', with no further update on Friday. His potential return date is also November 22.
Manuel Ugarte could miss the remainder of the season after a serious knee injury. The midfielder continues to recover at Carrington, with a potential return date in 2027.
