Manchester United face an anxious wait to discover the extent of their latest injury setback as the list of absentees grows longer for Erik ten Hag at a crucial time of the season.
The Red Devils travelled to face struggling Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday with Lisandro Martinez ruled out for the season after fracturing a metatarsal bone during the Europa League quarter-final first-leg draw with Sevilla and fellow first-choice defender Raphael Varane also now expected to miss a few weeks with his own foot issue suffered in the same game.
United’s injury list already included the likes of Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho plus Donny van de Beek and Tom Heaton, while neither Luke Shaw nor Scott McTominay were able to make their return at the City Ground.
To make matters worse for Ten Hag, Tyrell Malacia was ruled out of the Forest game with a knee issue and Marcel Sabitzer then sustained a groin problem in the warm-up, leading to a late call into the XI for Christian Eriksen who made his first start since suffering a serious ankle injury in January.
“Sabitzer came off in the warm-up, he felt something,” Ten Hag told BBC Sport after a 2-0 win in the East Midlands sealed by goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot, who had to slot in at left-back on Sunday without Shaw and Malacia as Brandon Williams made the bench alongside youngsters Marc Jurado and Zidane Iqbal.
“We decided not to take the risk, we will find out tomorrow what it is. But when you have Eriksen on the bench, it is definitely not a disadvantage.”
Such a worsening injury crisis has struck at the worst possible time for Carabao Cup winners United, who as well as competing for a top-four finish in the Premier League still have a chance at a hat-trick of trophies this term as they travel to Seville for the second leg on Thursday before returning to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final against high-flying Brighton next weekend.
“Last week I had nine fit top defenders, now I have four,” bemoaned Ten Hag, whose side leapfrogged Newcastle into third with their third straight league win at Forest and created a six-point buffer to Tottenham - who have played a game more - in fifth with only eight matches left to play.
“We need all our players, we are still in three competitions, we need all the players to form a top team.”
Asked why Malacia was missing from the squad against Forest, Ten Hag had said earlier: “He has a sore knee and already he was struggling in the week. Today it was too bad to start.’’
