Van Persie Sidelined With Ankle Injury

Robin van Persie will miss the visit of Sunderland on Saturday with the ankle injury he sustained during the 2-1 loss to Swansea City last weekend.

Manchester United's top scorer left the Liberty Stadium on crutches after appearing to sustain the problem when attempting to cross the ball in the closing stages of the luckless defeat.

In an interview with MUTV, manager Louis van Gaal confirmed: "He [Robin] is the only injured player. He has an ankle injury. We have to wait and see how long that shall take."

Van Gaal offered no exact timeframe regarding his fellow Dutchman's length of absence, with the FA Cup tie against the striker's former club Arsenal looming large on the horizon on 9 March, but did later add at his press conference: "It's not heavy but it's not one or two weeks."

There is better news on James Wilson and Michael Carrick, with the young striker available at the weekend despite suffering a dead leg in the Under-21s' draw at Sunderland on Monday. Carrick, meanwhile, is edging closer to a return after returning to training on Thursday.

"He [Michael] is very experienced and he can play in a very important position," added the boss on MUTV. "But he also needs match rhythm. He trained only one time with us, with the group, so he needs to also play in the second team."