Luke Shaw has missed the last two Man Utd games with an injury and Michael Carrick has offered an update on the left-back.
Luke Shaw
Luke Shaw has missed the last two games through injury
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Luke Shaw faces a race against time to be fit for Manchester United's Carabao Cup third round tie with Brighton, but the left-back is expected to return to face Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.
The 31-year-old's run of 41 successive Premier League starts came to an end when he missed Sunday's Manchester derby, which was the second successive match he had sat out with a minor injury, having also missed the Champions League success against Sabah.
Shaw has suffered numerous fitness setbacks during his dozen years at Old Trafford, but he remained fit and available throughout last season, although a 40-game campaign put less stress than usual on a squad used to the rigours of European football.
That streak always seemed unlikely to last and eyebrows were raised when he missed training ahead of the game against Sabah last Wednesday. Although United insisted it was a recovery day, the left-back has now missed back-to-back games and head coach Michael Carrick said there was no guarantee he would return against the Seagulls on Wednesday.
"He could possibly be fit for Brighton, but it's not clear-cut. But it's a matter of a few days rather than anything else," he said.
Carrick used Patrick Dorgu at left-back against Sabah and City, but his defensive frailties were exposed in both games, and he was at fault for Erling Haaland's controversial winner at the weekend.
Dorgu had only previously been used as a winger by Carrick but he believes the Denmark international remains an option at left-back. Noussair Mazraoui can also play there and 19-year-old Harry Amass will be pushing for involvement in the Carabao Cup tie.
"Pat played fantastically well the other night, and I thought he did a lot of good things [on Sunday], to be honest," said Carrick. "That's why we've got the squad, to fill in different things. Injuries aren't ideal, but we've got to deal with them."
Two players who are unlikely to return this week are centre-back Matthijs de Ligt and winger Amad. De Ligt is back in training as he approaches nine months out with a back injury, but his return is being managed carefully, while Amad looks likely to be back in action after the international break.
"Amad, not quite close in terms of days, but we'll see as the week progresses," said Carrick. "And Matta’s just working his way back, really, so because of the time frame and how it's been, I don't really want to put too much time frame on it."