After their defence was decimated by injuries in recent months, it’s Man United’s midfield that is now suffering, bringing the injury total to six.
Bastian Schweinsteiger is out of Man United’s game against Newcastle tonight at St. James’ Park, due to suffering a knee problem against Sheffield United at the weekend.
“Bastian is injured, that we know,” van Gaal told MUTV. “We have seen that because he could not move.”
Luckily, for such a vulnerable area of the body, the injury doesn’t sound too serious. The 31-year-old, who only moved from Bayern Munich in the summer, has already made 26 appearances for Man United in the heart of their midfield.
There are also concerns regarding the fitness of the recently recalled Adnan Januzaj.
The young attacking midfielder was initially drafted into the Man United under-21 side by Louis van Gaal to bring the Belgian back up to speed having not gotten much gametime at Borussia Dortmund.
Januzaj had been due to make the squad to face Reading.
“We have reconsidered and we think we have to build him up for the game and not risk too much by putting him in a game at once,” van Gaal said.
Defensive trio Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo and Antonio Valencia are still long-term absentees, but there is some encouraging news.
Elsewhere in midfield, Ashley Young, Michael Carrick and Morgan Schneiderlin could return to the fold after missing the win over Sheffield United.
“Schneiderlin is not injured but he’s in the red zone and had an overload,” the Dutchman revealed.
“In the Christmas period, he played every game and we have to take care of that.”
