Neither midfielder Ander Herrera nor striker Marcus Rashford will be involved in Manchester United’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Huddersfield Town on Saturday. Both players are suffering from undisclosed muscular problems, which kept them out of action in the 1-0 loss at Newcastle United last weekend.
It is hoped that the duo will both be fit in time for next week’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 clash versus Sevilla. Wednesday night will see United travel to Spain for the road leg of their knockout round tie with the La Liga side. Mourinho said on Friday, during his news conference that the duo is ruled for this weekend, but could be back for midweek.
“No (for tomorrow), chance (for Sevilla),” Mourinho said of the pair.
“Tomorrow is black or white. It’s not grey. Tomorrow is really important because it’s a knockout match. We are going to face the game in the best possible way.”
On the plus side, United will welcome back Eric Bailly this weekend. An ankle problem, which required surgery to repair, has kept the central defender out of action since November.
For Ander Herrera, he has another concern that is much bigger than his current fitness issue. This week we learned that prosecutors in Spain will move forward in their investigation of a match-fixing incident from 2011. Herrera is one of many players being investigated who could face prison time and a multi year ban if found guilty.
Herrera maintains his innocence.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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