Manchester United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he hopes to have both Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial fit for Sunday’s clash with Liverpool.
The pair limped out of United’s 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and Solskjaer initially ruled both players out of Sunday’s showdown at Old Trafford.
United were without the attackers for Monday’s 2-0 win against Chelsea and Solskjaer opted instead to start with Romelu Lukaku and Juan Mata in an unfamiliar diamond in midfield.
However, Solskjaer has backtracked on his previous comments and says he hopes to have both players available.
“I hope and think Anthony will be ready and I hope Jesse will be ready because it’s two different injuries,” the Norwegian told Stewart Gardner.
“So maybe more hope than think, with Anthony as well, but he’s got a chance. Anyway, we still hope Jesse could be ready. Let’s see. We’ve still got a couple of days’ training left and they need to be part of it.”
Adding in his press conference, Ole said: “They’ve not been part of it yet, but they’ve been doing some recovery work and Anthony’s was a different muscle, of course, so we think that he might be ready and hope that Jesse will.”
The clash is another acid test of Solskjaer’s bid to become permanent manager at the Theatre of Dreams and it would be near-impossible not to give him the job should United come away with a win against their fiercest rivals.
“We are looking okay,” Solskjaer added. “I hope Jesse will be okay. I more hope than think Anthony will be okay.
“They have got to get through these two sessions, they have not been part of it [training] yet. They have been doing some recovery work.
“Every single player has their attributes and I think we showed against Chelsea that we can manage without them.
“We have got options, it is a big squad with good players and everyone is eager to play this game.”