Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that midfielder Paul Pogba is definitely ruled out of Wednesday’s Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford.
On Sunday, Solskjaer had hinted that one of McTominay or Pogba could make the matchday squad to face Spurs after overcoming their respective ankle problems.
However, Pogba does not appear ready, according to Solskjaer, who believes the 26-year-old needs more time on the training field before being reintroduced to first-team action.
“No. Paul’s not ready, no. So, he’s still a bit away, but he’s working hard, so let’s see. He’s out [training] on the grass, so let’s see how long it will take,” he was quoted as saying by the club’s official website.
Meanwhile, there was some positive news on the fitness of McTominay and Nemanja Matic but Solskjaer hinted that a late decision would be made regarding the involvement of the midfield duo.
“[Scott and Nemanja] are touch-and-go, so let’s get this [today’s] training session out of the way. We’ve got more games than this one, so I can’t just look at one game. We’ve got to look at the long term,” he added.
United are currently eight points adrift of the top four places in the Premier League and they have a tough start to the festive schedule with back-to-back matches against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City.
Spurs and City are certainly in a better run of form at present, but Solskjaer needs to get positive results against the duo or else, he could be on the cusp of losing his job after just one year at the helm.
The Norwegian got the better of Spurs when the clubs met at the Wembley Stadium earlier this year. Marcus Rashford scored the only goal of the game but United had to thank David de Gea, who made an impressive 11 saves.
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