Marc Skinner says Hinata Miyazawa and Jayde Riviere are in contention to play in our UEFA Women's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
Miyazawa celebrated winning the Asian Cup with Japan in Australia on Saturday, and was welcomed back to training on Tuesday morning, after being away for our last three games.
Riviere, meanwhile, has been absent for the last two matches but was also spotted out on the Carrington pitches earlier, and is expected to be available for Wednesday's Old Trafford clash.
Skinner delivered the positive update during his pre-match press conference at the training ground on Tuesday afternoon, where he was joined by former Bayern midfielder Julia Zigiotti, to preview the encounter.
“She’s fine,”
the boss began, on Miyazawa. “[As] you’d imagine, on such a high of winning the tournament, [it’s] a fantastic achievement for them.
“It was a fantastic morning this morning, because the players put out balloons and a welcome-back moment for Hini. But Hini seems like Hini, pretty normal – I’m sure there will be some effects, but she feels ready to go. She’ll be in contention to start the game.
“We’re one of these teams, we’re adverse to putting players under extreme risk. We do have a player-centred approach, so if we felt that was any different [we wouldn’t put her at risk]. But Hini is in contention to start this game, feels absolutely fine, trained absolutely fine. She’s a hugely important part of what we do, so she’s in contention.”
On Riviere and Dominique Janssen, who will miss out again after coming off at half-time away to West Ham last Wednesday, Skinner said: “Dom misses out this one, we’re continuously assessing her. Jayde is back, Jayde is available to be selected for the team. It’s welcome to have Jayde back in the team.
“Layla [Drury] misses because she’s not registered in the squad at this period. There’s nobody else that will be returning for this leg.”
Celin Bizet Donnum, Leah Galton, Anna Sandberg, Ella Toone and Ellen Wangerheim remain unavailable for the Reds.
BAYERN'S TEAM NEWS
The German champions have named a 20-player squad for the trip to Manchester, which includes England international Georgia Stanway, as well as former Chelsea duo Magdalena Eriksson and Pernille Harder.
Miyazawa's international team-mate Momoko Tanikawa has also made the flight, after her excursions with Japan at the Asian Cup.
Bayern have confirmed, however, that goalkeeper Anna Klink will be out for the next two weeks due to a torn muscle fibre.
Klara Buhl, Jovana Damnjanovic, Lena Oberdorf, Katharina Naschenweng, Alara Sehitler and Sarah Zadrazil are recent absentees that won’t play in M16 either.
TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR WEDNESDAY
United v Bayern is scheduled to be broadcast live to UK viewers on Disney+, with kick-off timetabled for 20:00 GMT.
However, there is still a chance for you to take in the action live from the Theatre of Dreams, with tickets available from £15 for adults and £10 for concessions. We'll also have a free fan zone on the evening, which you can find out more about here.
For those who can't get to M16, we'll be bringing you a live watchalong across club platforms, including on the United Women YouTube channel, where we'll be sharing the emotion of the evening along with special guests.
You can also join us in our app and on ManUtd.com where we'll have exclusive player and manager interviews, live updates, interactive content and much more throughout the night.