Ralph Rangnick will be without six players when Manchester United play Chelsea in the Premier League match on Thursday night.
Harry Maguire and Jadon Sancho were both excluded from the match at Old Trafford, adding to the absentee list that already includes Edinson Cavani, Paul Pogba and Luke Shaw.
Fred will also not be participating in the game because he has not fully recovered from his hip flexion problem.
“Unfortunately Fred is not available yet,” Ralph told reporters in his pre-match press conference.
“He tried to train yesterday but after training I had a long conversation with him and he just told me he doesn’t feel fully fit, he’s not 100 per cent and with a player like Fred always committed to giving his best I don’t think it makes sense, with the muscle injury he’s had. “To play with him very early, because that means we run the risk of getting injured again and that’s something I don’t want to do. So unfortunately he won’t be available tomorrow.”
“Aside from that we have Harry Maguire who is not there. He has some problem with his knee, not a big problem – some laughter in his knee. He wasn’t training, neither yesterday nor today.
“Paul, Fred, Edinson, Luke Shaw and Jadon-Jadon are clearly sick, have tonsillitis since yesterday, can’t train today and also won’t be available tomorrow.”
However, Rangnick is hoping Cavani can recover in time to appear in his last three Premier League games.
“Well, he should be back in training on Friday, so the day after the Chelsea game, according to the team doctor, and then we’ll have to see,” Ralph said.
“He’s been out for a while now but according to our team doctor he should be back in training on Friday.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is also suspect for an unspecified reason, and Rangnick has admitted he may have to use academy players for the remaining matches if the situation does not change.
“Well, it’s possible. We have quite a few players missing tomorrow and one or two still have question marks, so we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if, say, Aaron Wan-Bissaka can play.
“I already played with Hannibal at Liverpool so it’s possible [I’ll play youngsters] But we also have to be fair enough with these players.
United suffered a 3-1 defeat by Arsenal last weekend and will be eager to return at home to the European champions.
