Manchester United visit Chelsea in the Premier League's early kick off with a mixed bag of injury concerns for Michael Carrick to contend with
Kobbie Mainoo is fit for Manchester United to face Chelsea on Saturday
Kobbie Mainoo is fit for Manchester United to face Chelsea on Saturday(Image: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
View Image
Michael Carrick is set for another pivotal afternoon as Manchester United head coach on Saturday when the Reds visit Chelsea in the Premier League. Last week, Carrick looked on the brink of losing his job after heavy defeats to Como and Bournemouth.
After crisis talks on Monday, Carrick was handed a reprieve and kept his job until Saturday, at least. As always, United are desperate for three points and Carrick will be keen to have as big a squad as possible to choose from at Stamford Bridge. While the result against Bournemouth did not go in the Reds' favour, Lisandro Martinez and Ayden Heaven did return to the team.
However, there are still a number of fitness issues for Carrick to contend with. So with this in mind, MEN Sport has rounded up the latest United injury news ahead of the weekend.
Kobbie Mainoo
Injury: Muscular
After a short time out, Mainoo returned to training at Carrington this week. In his press conference on Thursday, Carrick said: "Good news, Kobbie's done a little bit of training yesterday, so he's back in and around the group, so that's obviously a positive."
Potential return date: October 31 vs Chelsea
Benjamin Sesko
Injury: Shin
Sesko's persistent shin injury has kept him sidelined for most of this season. Earlier this week, it was confirmed the striker would be out until 2027 as he recovers. Carrick added: "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.
"But it's unfortunately, 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."
Potential return date: January
Luke Shaw
Injury: Unknown
Carrick confirmed earlier this month that Shaw would be out longer than Mainoo. He did not return to training this week, suggesting he will be out until at least next month.
Potential return date: November
Marcus Rashford
Injury: Hip
Rashford missed the disastrous trip to Como. Carrick later confirmed he was struggling with a hip issue. He did not feature in training this week and was not mentioned during the press conference.
Potential return date: November 3 vs AS Roma
Patrick Dorgu
Injury: Thigh
Dorgu picked up his thigh injury during a UEFA Nations League outing with Denmark. He is not expected back until November at the earliest.
Potential return date: November
Manuel Ugarte
Injury: Knee
Ugarte remains absent. He suffered his serious injury while representing Uruguay at the World Cup. The midfielder is in a race against the clock to be fit again before the end of the season.
Potential return date: 2027