Rooney & Rojo Injured For West Ham Test

Louis van Gaal has told MUTV that Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Marcos Rojo are both injured for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League encounter with West Ham at Old Trafford.

Rooney sustained an ankle problem during last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Leicester City and is unavailable to face the Hammers. That means the captain will have to wait to register his 500th Reds appearance, an impressive landmark that only nine other United players have achieved.

Van Gaal also confirmed that Rojo dislocated his shoulder in training on Wednesday and is facing a spell on the sidelines, though the duration is still unclear. The Argentina international suffered the same injury during last season’s Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium and missed around four weeks of action.

"It was already in the media – Rojo has been injured," the boss told MUTV during his pre-match interview at the Aon Training Complex on Friday. "It’s his shoulder, the same as last year, in a training session. It’s very unfortunate, also in the position of Luke Shaw, so I have a great problem.

"Also the injury of Wayne Rooney is more heavy [serious] than we thought, so neither can play. That’s it I think. Jesse Lingard is coming back which is good news. Phil Jones is still injured so we have six injuries."

Quizzed further on Rooney, van Gaal said: "It’s a nasty injury. It’s been getting worse but we have to let him train to make the ankle stronger, that’s very important. I cannot say [how long he's out for] because the doctor shall decide that with Wayne of course. He is training well in the rehabilitation."

The boss later suggested the skipper will also miss the vital Champions League clash in Wolfsburg on Tuesday, saying he thinks the England striker will remain unavailable.

Van Gaal also confirmed Ander Herrera is still injured and will not face West Ham. Antonio Valencia is United's other absentee as the Ecuador international continues to recover from recent foot surgery.

With Rojo and Shaw both injured, leaving United with a shortage of left-backs, the manager was asked whether he will field three centre-backs like he did at Leicester last weekend. "It’s dependable on the opponent," the Dutchman said. "It’s also dependable on the shape of the players, I have to compare."