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Manchester United captain Harry Maguire could be out for a “few weeks” after sustaining an ankle injury during his side’s victory at Aston Villa, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said.
Maguire had been on the cusp of becoming the first outfield player in United’s history to complete 72 consecutive Premier League matches before limping off late in the second half following a collision with Villa’s Anwar El Ghazi.
United face Villareal in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday 26 May while the skipper is a doubt for this week’s matches against Leicester and Liverpool, which could see the Red Devils move within four points of leaders Manchester City if they triumph in both.
“Of course we’ve got (the Europa League final) to look forward to – hopefully that will be with Harry Maguire,” Solskjaer said. “I don’t know. We’ve got to check him. It might be a few weeks, might be a couple of days, who knows?
“Hopefully it won’t be too bad but I’m not a doctor. We’ve got to check him and scan him tomorrow. It was his ankle, lower leg. I think the boy landed on top of him, so twisted his ankle and got a knock.”
Solskjaer was delighted by United’s character and resolve at Villa as their latest comeback win all but sealed another top-four finish and delayed City’s coronation.
United, like so many times this season, had to do things the hard way as they came from behind to win for a 10th top-flight game – a competition record in a single campaign.
Villa had gone into the break leading thanks to Bertrand Traore’s stunning goal, only for Bruno Fernandes to level from the penalty spot and Mason Greenwood to add a second shortly afterwards.
Substitute Edinson Cavani wrapped up a 3-1 victory that leaves second-placed United on the brink of back-to-back top-four finishes for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
“I believe in the boys and I think they believe in themselves,” Solskjaer said. “We know that sometimes coming back from Europe is difficult and there wasn’t a lot wrong with the first half either.
“We didn’t have the margins. They scored and we didn’t. I thought we created the biggest chances, opportunities, but they scored a very good goal.
“Then it was just about trusting ourselves again. We have done it so many times and it’s about ‘here we go again, boys, just keep moving the ball quicker’. That was one of the messages.
“The players are learning, a developing group as a whole, they’re getting better. The spirit, the camaraderie, they back each other. There’s competition for places so I’m very happy that we’ve done that twice now (reaching the top four).”
PA
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