Kobbie Mainoo injury prediction from Ruben Amorim reveals blow for Man Utd

Ruben Amorim expects Kobbie Mainoo to be ‘fine in a few weeks’ as he deals with a calf injury picked up in training.

The England international was a surprise omission from the Manchester United squad for the trip to take on Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday.

A Morgan Rogers brace gave the Villains a 2-1 win over the Red Devils, with a smart Matheus Cunha finish the bright spot for the visitors.

It was a bad day out for Amorim, who also saw his captain Bruno Fernandes pick up an injury in the first half, replaced by Lisandro Martinez at the break.

With Fernandes seemingly out for a while, Mainoo’s injury becomes a significant problem as well.

In a post-match press conference, Amorim said of Manchester United’s Boxing Day meeting with Newcastle: ‘Kobbie Mainoo is out.’

Before the game against Villa, he told Sky Sports: ‘He got an injury in the last training. After training, he went to the doctor. He got something in his calf. We are going to assess but he is out of this game.

‘Of course [it is bad timing], not just for the team but for him to have this problem. These are reminders that we need to focus on everything we can control and leave the rest to the destiny.

‘He is going to be fine in a few weeks, I think, I don’t know. Let’s focus on the players that we have and are ready to play.’

When Mainoo will return is not clear, with news on the severity of Fernandes’ injury also yet to be confirmed.

‘I think it’s soft tissue so it’s going to be a while. We’ll see,’ Amorim told Sky Sports when asked for an update on Fernandes’ fitness shortly after United’s loss.

‘It is really strange. During this year, especially at this time, we have so many problems, but we have to cope with that. I think [Jack] Fletcher did his first game, so that is good news, [Shea] Lacey the same, so we will try to find solutions and go for the next game.

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‘I am a manager for six years and even Sporting is all about the academy, so it’s about the history. Every manager wants to bring players through from the academy and not spend money because this gives value to the manager.

‘I just want to win and want to be certain that the players that come in from the academy are not going to suffer too much. I’m just trying to help the club, it doesn’t matter if it’s from the academy or abroad.’

Amorim was obviously disappointed to leave Villa Park with nothing, feeling that his team turned in a good performance against the in-form Villains.

‘If you look to all of the game we controlled the game, we played well, we create our chances, and two moments from one player decide the game,’ he told the BBC.

‘We tried to press high. Every time into Martinez we tried to press, we left our players one against one in behind – of course we cannot block every second ball off transition but we played well. I think the best team today lost.

‘The amount of times that we reached near the box with space and time in a good situation to score, we are doing that. That was no different to the last game, so we are being consistent on that.

‘I think we defended well today against a very good team. We did a good game but in the end it doesn’t matter because we lost.’