Louis Van Gaal announced that his side will be without captain Wayne Rooney ahead of West Ham’s trip to Old Trafford, with United looking to climb up towards the top of the league table with a win.
Manchester United’s long injury list, consisting of long-term absentees Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia alongside Ander Herrera, now also includes Wayne Rooney and Marcus Rojo.
Rojo dislocated his shoulder earlier this week in a training accident and the Dutchman revealed in the press conference ahead of West Ham report that the decision about the Argentine international needing a surgery or not will be taken up post medical reports.
Van Gaal was quoted saying by the official Manchester United website: a He trained with us on Wednesday and fell down. It was a bad fall.
a He dislocated his shoulder, it was more or less the same point as (he did) last season so he is out for more weeks.
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a The question on whether he shall be operated on is a question for the doctors and Marcos himself. We have to see that later because we have to wait for the scan at a proper time.a
While Rojo’s injury maybe long term loss for United, Rooney should be back soon having injured his ankle in the draw against Leicester City. The forward though, is unlikely to be fit it time for the crucial tie against Wolfsburg.
Rooney’s injury means an a United side already struggling for goals will be short of another attacking player, although the English international has hardly set the pitch on fire in recent times.
Speaking about Rooney, Van Gaal said: a He shall not play his 500th game because he is more injured than I thought. So we have to wait for that game. His ankle is not good enough and he has to recover that ankle with a lot of strength.
Van Gaal will be hoping that his side can overcome the loss of theie captain and beat West Ham, especially with the Wolfsburg game around the corner, thereby taking the squad to Germany high on confidence.