Will Power

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Pogba Joins United Injury List

Manchester United could be without Paul Pogba for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Swansea City after he limped off during the Europa League game against Fenerbahce.

The Frenchman seemed to injure his thigh in a tackle with Brazilian midfielder Souza and he expressed his frustration by punching the ground before getting back to his feet.

Pogba tried to shake off the knock and played on, even managing to create enough space for himself to fashion United's first shot on target - albeit an effort comfortably saved by Volkan Demirel. However, on the half-hour mark he signalled to the bench that he felt unable to carry on and he was replaced by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

With Ander Herrera suspended after his sending-off against Burnley last weekend, the Reds could have some problems in midfield ahead of the return to domestic action. But Jose Mourinho ruled out a return for Bastian Schweinsteiger, who has just resumed training with the first-team squad.

Speaking about Schweinsteiger in his post-match press conference, Mourinho observed: "It’s too early for him. He’s been training with the team for three or four days, he’s not ready to play football at that level yet."

A more positive note was the return to action for Henrikh Mkhitaryan. The summer signing made his eagerly-awaited first appearance since early September when he came on in the second half against Fenerbahce as a replacement for Marcus Rashford.

There was no official update on Pogba's condition before the squad flew home from Istanbul but if he is ruled out for the weekend, he will join existing absentees Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia on the sidelines.