Manchester United interim boss Ralf Rangnick is set to give youngsters a chance against Chelsea after revealing he is without at least six players.
Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire, Fred, Jadon Sancho, Luke Shaw and Edinson Cavani are out of Thursday night's Premier League fixture, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka is a doubt for the game at Old Trafford. Rangnick has just 14 senior players, which means United's 18-man squad to face Chelsea is set to be made up of emerging youngsters.
Hannibal Mejbri, Alvaro Fernandez and Ajejandro Garnacho are all expected to be on the United bench to face Thomas Tuchel's side. Asked if youngsters could be included in his squad, Rangnick said: “It's possible, we have quite a few players missing tomorrow, one or two still with question marks.
“I already played Hannibal at Liverpool, so it's possible, but we have to be fair enough to those players. It has to be the right moment. They should have the chance to play well and perform well, and it should be the right moment.
"Fred is unfortunately not yet available, he tried to train yesterday and afterwards I had a conversation with him and with a player like Fred it doesn't make sense with a muscular injury to play him too early as we would take the risk of re-injury. Apart from that, Harry [Maguire] is not available tomorrow, he has some issues with his knee. He didn't train yesterday and today.
Have Your Say! Should Rangnick start the Man Utd kids vs Chelsea? Join the debate here.
"Paul obviously, Fred, Luke Shaw, Jadon is ill - he has had tonsillitis since yesterday, couldn't train today and won't be available tomorrow. We will try to play the best possible team, right now we have 14 in our pro team and the youngsters available and three or four players will be part of the squad.”
United head into the game sixth in the Premier League table after their 3-1 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend. They are six points behind the fourth-placed Gunners with their top four hopes fading rapidly.
