Ahead of tonight’s EFL Cup clash against West Ham United, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer provided some team news updates. Jesse Lingard, one of the heroes from Sunday’s exciting, thrilling, roller coaster of a match, will get a first team assignment against the club he impressed with while on loan last season.
The Norwegian also provided some updates on the status of two injured players- forward Marcus Rashford and left back Alex Telles. The English national hero is still out until October, mid-October now, while the reserve defender is available.
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Rashford’s recovery from offseason surgery is certainly not being rushed along, by any means.
“Yeah it’s going well,” OGS said of the convalescence.
“They’ve worked really hard, both of them. Alex is a bit further on than Marcus. I don’t think we’ll see Marcus until after the international break but Alex has worked well and will be in the squad as well.”
With that timeline, Rashford is out until at least Oct 16 versus Leicester City, but at least the squad has no new injury concerns.
“We lost nobody on Sunday so it’s the same squad or same pool of players to choose from. We know it’s early on in the season and some need minutes to get their proper fitness up so I will make a few changes,” the Norwegian continued before discussing the concept of playing the same team twice in less than a week.
(It is strange how stuff like this keeps happening with the schedule)
“It’s strange how it works out and you meet the same team twice in three days. We need to give some minutes to a few, that’s definite, and I think we’ve got a good squad. Quite a few of these are champing at the bit to show what they can do.”
“That’s easy. It’s another game, the next game and, of course, after the win on Sunday, everyone is looking forward to the next one. You do anyway, if you lose or you win but the spirit is good and it’s a new challenge.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.
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