Manchester United will face Aston Villa in the Premier League before the international break
Michael Carrick
Michael Carrick spoke to the media on Friday
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Michael Carrick faces a number of injury concerns ahead of Manchester United's Premier League clash with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday (4:30pm kick-off). The United head coach will be desperate to secure three points against Villa as he looks to strengthen his chances of remaining in charge at Old Trafford.
The Reds are currently 17th in the Premier League, having managed just one league victory this season. However, Carrick's hopes of improving United's fortunes have been dealt a blow by several injuries to key players.
Speaking on Friday, Carrick confirmed that Carlos Baleba faces several weeks on the sidelines after suffering an injury during United's midweek Champions League fixture.
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"Carlos, we don't know [when he will be back], but it will be a number of weeks," he said. "It's definitely not this week, and it won't be any time over the international break. It'll be a little bit longer than that."
Patrick Dorgu is also a doubt for Sunday's encounter, although he has made encouraging progress in his recovery. The defender returned to training earlier than expected during the week after missing the clash with Roma.
"Patrick's done a little bit of training this week," Carrick added. "As you've seen, he trained with us at the start of the week, very, very small. So we've got to be patient with Pat.
Carlos Baleba
Carlos Baleba is set to be sidelined for some time
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"He's had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage that and be patient with that over the next few weeks as well. But he's slowly getting back with us, so we'll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend or not."
Meanwhile, there was no fresh update on Marcus Rashford during Friday's press conference. Carrick revealed earlier in the week that United were assessing the forward's recovery on a 'day-by-day' basis as he works towards a return.
Luke Shaw is expected to remain unavailable until after the international break. The defender could potentially make his comeback against Liverpool on November 22.
Benjamin Sesko is another player Carrick will have to do without, with the striker facing an extended spell on the sidelines. The United boss provided a concerning update on his condition last week.
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"Yeah, unfortunately Ben looks like he's going to be out for a period of time," Carrick said last week.
"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."
Manuel Ugarte also remains a long-term absentee, with the midfielder battling to return before the season ends. He is continuing his rehabilitation at Carrington after sustaining a serious knee injury during the World Cup.
Aston Villa have injury problems of their own ahead of the trip to Manchester. Andre Onana and Matteo Ruggeri have both been ruled out, while Aaron Wan-Bissaka will undergo a late fitness assessment.
The former West Ham defender could replace Matty Cash, who is serving a one-match suspension after accumulating too many yellow cards.