Why De Gea and Lukaku were ruled out

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has explained why he was unable to call upon David De Gea and Romelu Lukaku for the friendly against Leeds United in Perth.

Both players also missed the opening game of Tour 2019, the 2-0 victory against Perth Glory, but it was hoped they would be back in contention to feature against the Yorkshire outfit at the Optus Stadium.

However, De Gea was not feeling well ahead of the match and Lukaku picked up a knock in training, joining Lee Grant and Luke Shaw on the sidelines.

“David just fell ill today so he didn’t feel right,” Ole explained to MUTV, who are showing all the Tour 2019 games live. “We’ll wait until the Inter Milan game [on Saturday] for him. They’re not ready, the others, either [Lukaku, Shaw and Grant].”

On a more positive note, Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof were fit enough to start the friendly at the heart of the United defence.

“Obviously, Eric had an operation just before the end of the season,” added the manager. “But now he’s back and we trained all week with him.

”It’s good to see him. Victor was fit, it was just a little thing before the first game.“