Veteran Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick returns to the team after four games out, which means that Van Gaal has options other than the frustrating Marouane Fellaini in the holding midfield position for the club’s FA Cup fixture against Derby County.
It looks like Manchester United’s defensive midfield is set to be boosted by the return of 34-year-old Michael Carrick to the line up in the FA Cup Fourth round match against Derby County. Although he is deemed to be unfit to play the entire 90 minutes, Carrick could play either half of the tie.
He will most probably play one half in place of misfiring midfielder Marouane Fellaini, who has not impressed at all since finding himself back in the starting XI. Apart from that bit of good news, it’s all bad at the Manchester United camp, with Bastian Schweinsteiger and Phil Jones missing out on the match, while Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young and Luke Shaw still long term injuries for the Red Devils.
This leaves their defence especially vulnerable and responsibility will fall on the shoulders of young left back Cameron Borthwick–Jackson to complement the central pairing of Chris Smalling and Daley Blind.
Matteo Darmian suffered a head injury in the match against Southampton and has been ruled out of the match. This means that Paddy Mc’Nair and youth player Guilermo Varela will be competing for the right back position.
Meanwhile, Derby County can boast of a full strength squad, with manager Paul Clement saying that ‘The camp is in good spirit.’ [via: The Mirror]
