Rooney Ruled Out With Knee Injury

Wayne Rooney will miss Manchester United's match against FC Midtjylland on Thursday night and potentially some other upcoming fixtures due to a knee injury.

Reds boss Louis van Gaal delivered the news in an exclusive interview with MUTV and then his pre-match press conference, but in both cases declined to estimate when the captain might return to action.

"We have 13 players out and Wayne is one of them," the boss told the club's official TV channel.

"You can never say [how long he could be out for]. He has a knee problem so we have to wait and see."

The 13 absentees also include right-back Matteo Darmian, who suffered shoulder damage in Saturday's game at Sunderland, and Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, who has started United's last five matches at left-back since coming on as a substitute at Anfield a month ago.

"Darmian has a dislocated shoulder. It's not the heaviest type so we are lucky, but he is injured and out," confirmed van Gaal. "Borthwick-Jackson is ill and cannot play either, so we have 13 players injured or not capable of playing.

"I have never had that amount of players injured [before]. When you realise that they are only contact injuries - only Marouane Fellaini maybe has a muscle problem, the rest have contact injuries - it's unbelievable that we are very unlucky."

Speaking more about Rooney, the manager confirmed the injury was sustained when the Reds were chasing a result at Sunderland and admitted his absence, as an in-form striker, could be a blow.

"Certainly in 2016, he has scored goals and that's why we had a good run in matches until Sunderland, but we have to cope with that," said van Gaal. "Everybody can be injured and also the captain can be injured.

"Wayne [is a player] who wants to go until the end and if he is feeling pain, he doesn't want to go away [off the field], and certainly when you are drawing a match, he wants to win. That's a fantastic attitude but also it's bad for his body."