Benjamin Sesko could make his comeback for Manchester United's clash with AFC Bournemouth on Monday, though Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt will both be sidelined against the Cherries. Sesko has been out of action since damaging his knee whilst coming off the bench during the draw at Tottenham five weeks ago, whilst Maguire's most recent outing was in that very same fixture after sustaining a thigh problem.
De Ligt featured in United's opening 13 Premier League matches this term, but has now been absent from the last encounter due to a back complaint, although Ruben Amorim remains optimistic the Dutch defender will return shortly. The Slovenian striker has resumed training but has been struck down by food poisoning, though Amorim holds hope he might be available, with United still having two practice sessions ahead of Monday's encounter.
"Maguire is out, De Ligt is out, Ben we have to see," said Amorim. "We have to see if he's available, he has some food poisoning but let's wait, we have two training sessions still."
It was anticipated De Ligt might have regained fitness by this point, but Amorim remains cautious regarding his comeback as he continues to experience back discomfort.
"He has something in his back, I don't know sure, you see it's not a big injury but he has some pain. We have to be careful with that," he said.
United encounter a Bournemouth outfit battling poor form, yet Amorim holds great admiration for them and is especially impressed with the efforts of their head coach, Andoni Iraola. "It's a top team, top manager," he commented.
"I don't look to the results, I look the way they face every opponent, they press really strong, they are direct in the game. That gives us a lot of options to prepare the game. I expect a really tough game but we need to win, especially at home."
Regarding Iraola, Amorim remarked: "Special. The way they play the game, what he's doing for some players, he's improving some players, and you can look at that team, they have several players who can play at a high level."