Manchester United travel to Bramall Lane to face Sheffield United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side faces a tricky trip what could prove to be another big Premier League upset.
The Red Devils trail their hosts by a point after 12 games.
United also have a point to prove away from home and this match will likely determine whether they are playing Champions League football next season.
Ahead of the game against Sheffield, Solskjaer faced the press.
Injury update: “Scott will be out for a little while still. He has not been training with us, he is still recovering and hopefully, we can see him, maybe, around the time of Tottenham or City. He heals quickly, Scotty, but he is not going to be ready for Sheffield United or Astana, definitely. Pogba is improving. Obviously, he has been out and when you are in a cast for that long you do your muscle, so gradually you have to step it up. He has not started on his football work yet so it will still be a little while before we see him.”
"Scotty he hurt his ankle and so he will be out for a couple of weeks. We’ve lost Rojo, he’s injured, Paul still injured, but we’ve got Axel, Luke and Nemanja back in training so we’re looking better, we’re getting numbers back. Maybe not match fit, Axel and Luke, Nemanja have been out for a long time. But numbers in training we’re stronger."
Solskjaer on Mourinho: "Sorry to disappoint but it’s not gonna be about Jose or Mauricio. I can start with it’s good to have Jose back definitely especially for you guys and maybe for me, you can talk and write about everything else and for Mauricio it’s always sad when one of your colleagues good man loses job before Christmas, wish him all the best."
Closing in on top-four: "It’s a clear gap in the league between top four and I don’t know how many teams within a range of three or four points it’s about consistency now, we turned a corner we felt performance-wise and results after last international break but it’s so tight I’m just looking forward to this game we need to have a good performance and result."
Bailly, Rojo and Fosu-Mensah latest: “Tim and Eric have had knee injuries and been out for a long timee, stepped up their recovery, not joined with team but not far away, Rojo got a muscle injury in training he’s been struggling with, he’s not ready yet, so he was playing on with some discomfort towards the end of that run so maybe a couple of weeks.”
Pochettino available add pressure to you? “No, it doesn’t bother me at all, I’ve got the best job in the world and if you’re in or out of a job you want this job, so it doesn’t really matter whatever happens around it. I’ve got to focus on my job at Manchester United, do it as well as we can, speak with Ed and the owners all the time about how we move forward and that doesn’t change if others change managers.”
When will Pogba be back? “He had another test and scan just at the start of the international break and it’s not healed yet up stepping up the recovery so he doesn’t have to have the cast on, he’s out for six or seven weeks you do lose loads of muscle so he’s gradually now stepping up walking on the treadmill, biking it’ll still be a few weeks. We hope to see him in 2019, yeah.”
Video of Pogba playing football: “Did i say last press conference, we don’t play basketball. I don’t see many basketball players tackling ankles twisting and turning with studs, he’s not ready to train, no.”
Dubai training trip: “We had to pay for it, I decided they should go, if only so they would have had to pay for it themselves, I felt it was time for them to go there, get some sun on their backs bring a couple of coaches, do some training bring their partners and kids. Nothing formal and it’s been quite rainy and flood in Manchester so was good for them to go there.”
Can you still finish in top four? “We've still gotta keep looking up the table, of course, it’s so close but it is a long gap up to the top four. But we’ve got City next month very soon so we’ve got a chance to get points back getting players back better improving so hopefully we can challenge it. I’ve seen Marcus talk about it it’s not just about top four but that’s a bit of a goal for us.”
Henderson's progress on loan: “Very (happy he’s not playing). Dean’s done really well for them, Sheffield United been really good for him, Simon the second keeper I had at Cardiff is still a good goalie.”
How will midfield cope without McTominay and Pogba: “Well, we’ve lost Nemanja for a long period that’s gonna take it’s toll if you take three midfielders out of any top club but Fred’s stepped up and we’ll have to try to conjure up a way of replacing them. Long-term we’re looking at different positions and midfield yeah we’ve been looking at. Yeah, there’s always types of players we’re looking at but I’m not going to talk about that now.”
How big a loss will McTominay be? “Performed really well, nailed a position down for him, he’s played regularly, he’s been running midfield before played everywhere striker when a skid but now he’s learning the game and Sheffield United.”
Matic liked Mourinho comments on Instagram: “That’s not a part of being boring when it’s like this, you like Jose coming back it’s gonna be a spectacle and a circus and Nemanja has a sense of humour.”
Source-
MEN
