Manchester United will be without Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial for Saturday’s Premier League visit of Leicester, who boast a near clean bill of health.
The duo missed out on France’s international fixtures over the past two weeks after Pogba picked up an ankle knock, while Martial was struck down with a muscle injury which forced him out of the 2-2 draw at Southampton before the break.
And, despite the duo working hard to retain their full fitness ahead of the game against the Foxes, boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed they will both miss out.
On Pogba, the Red Devils’ chief said: “Paul won’t be fit unless he has had a miraculous recovery overnight. He has not been ready to train 100%.”
Solskjaer is also without Luke Shaw because of a hamstring injury and said he “can’t promise” that Jesse Lingard and Aaron Wan-Bissaka will be fit from the respective illness and knock which ruled them out of England duty for the games against Bulgaria and Kosovo.
Whoever does miss out against Leicester, Solskjaer is hoping to have the majority back fit for next week’s game against West Ham.
The game on Saturday sees Harry Maguire go up against his former team-mates following his record £80million move to Old Trafford in the summer.
And Solskjaer expects the England defender to have a big future at United.
He said: “I think Harry has been brilliant. He’s come into the dressing room as a leader and I’m sure he’s looking forward to playing against his old team.
“That’s why we know so much about Leicester because we have been watching him. He’s gonna be a big part of the future of this club. Leicester didn’t want lose him.”
Meanwhile, Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers has confirmed all of his international players reported back fit for the trip to face United and are looking forward to the game “against a top-class team”.
The only long-term absentee is Matty James, who is recovering from surgery on his Achilles and is due for a spell on the sidelines.
