Manchester United could be without as many as seven players for Sunday's Premier League clash with Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. Injuries have hit every area of the pitch, including defence, midfield, attack and goalkeeper.
Most of United's regular forwards are fit, but Amad Diallo remains a doubt after suffering a muscle injury in training. In midfield, £70m summer signing Carlos Baleba is sidelined with an ankle problem, while Manuel Ugarte is a long-term absentee and is not expected to return until 2027. Mason Mount is also a doubt after a foot injury, although manager Michael Carrick confirmed he has returned to training.
"Mase is back around the group, which was great. Trained this week, so that's a big positive for us," Carrick said.
Defensive cover
In defence, Matthijs de Ligt remains out with a back injury and is not expected to return until the end of the month at the earliest. Luke Shaw's availability is uncertain after he was substituted in the 73rd minute against Ipswich with a muscle problem.
Goalkeeper Tom Heaton is unavailable, although with Senne Lammens and Karl Darlow ahead of him in the pecking order, his absence is unlikely to have a significant impact.
Dorgu could drop back
Despite the injury problems, Carrick has one potential solution in Patrick Dorgu. The Denmark international joined United from Lecce for £25m last year and initially operated as a wing-back before moving into a more advanced left midfield or left-wing role after Carrick replaced Ruben Amorim in January.
Dorgu has adapted well further forward, but he could now be moved back into defence to cover for Shaw at left-back. Carrick described the 21-year-old as being like "a new signing" after he returned from an injury-hit period.
"He can certainly play there. He has done, without doubt," Carrick said. "He actually has been injured, unfortunately, for some time. You could almost argue that he played three or four times for us last season, so for me, he's almost like a new player, you know, to have, and it's almost like a new signing in some ways because he's added so much to the group."
Carrick added: "He's played off the right for Denmark, scored a great goal in the summer playing off the right in a forward position. He can play left-back. He's that type where he can do a number of things. I'm certainly not saying he can't do that at all."
"It's something he can, we just haven't had to explore that. At some point, we might have to, at some point he might do that. He can do that, absolutely no problem. There are times in training when he does it. And then he's only young, being such a young age and having the attributes that he's got, we've just got to keep trying to get the most out of him."
United will look to build on last weekend's 5-2 victory over Ipswich when they face Everton on Sunday. They are unbeaten in their past four visits to the blue half of Merseyside, with their most recent meeting ending in a 1-0 victory in February, Benjamin Sesko scoring the winner in the second half.
