Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted he is hopeful that forward Marcus Rashford will recover from a shoulder injury in time to feature against West Ham on Saturday.
Rashford started Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain but was unable to finish the game, instead heading straight down the tunnel in the 74th minute after picking up the injury.
After that game, Solskjaer confessed he did not think the injury was too serious, and he echoed that sentiment in the build-up to Saturday’s game, revealing that the Englishman is already back in light training.
“Marcus has been training this morning, not fully, but he’s joined in with the group,” Solskjaer said (via Manchester Evening News). “His shoulder stopped him finishing the game [against PSG]. He’s getting treatment and hopefully he’ll be part of the squad that travels. He’s having treatment now after training.”
However, Solskjaer’s optimism was not extended to left-back Luke Shaw, whose four-game absence with a hamstring injury is set to continue.
“Luke’s not ready yet,” Solskjaer added. “Apart from that, we had a big squad training again.”
The PSG defeat put an end to a four-game winning streak for Solskjaer’s side, but there’s no denying that United were more than a little fortunate to come away with three points in each of those games.
A 1-0 victory over West Brom and a 3-2 thriller with Southampton both brought United’s inconsistency to the fore, and Solskjaer admitted that he is confident of putting an end to this mixed form soon enough.
?️ “We won’t have our fans [on Saturday] but we’ll have to try and make their fans quiet and edgy,” says Solskjaer.
“It’s great to see fans back and we want to see it at Old Trafford soon. It hasn’t been the same.”#MUFC #WHUMUN pic.twitter.com/uPZhYsujrC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 4, 2020
“Football is a game with human beings who live their own lives, we’ve played some fantastic games, go 40 games back we’re one of the most consistent in the Premier League,” he stated. “You’re disappointed when you lose and it’s fine margins at times that decide if you win or lose.
“The PSG game was miles better than West Brom, but you don’t get three points against PSG, we’re getting more less-bad performances and getting more consistent. You can never control the result in the end, that’s decided by fine margins.”
For more from Tom Gott, follow him on Twitter!
Let’