Victor Lindelof suffered an injury against Bournemouth but Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has allayed fears he will be forced into a Premier League starting XI change against Aston Villa on Thursday.
The boss reported after United’s 5-2 Old Trafford win that the Sweden international just couldn’t continue for the second half, hence his withdrawal at the interval.
“He [Lindelof] struggled today with his back so, hopefully, he won’t be too bad,”
Solskjaer told BT Sport, immediately after the game.
Lindelof was replaced by Eric Bailly, who lined up alongside skipper Harry Maguire.
Replacing Lindelof was a precaution and he is likely to be in contention again when the Reds play Aston Villa on Thursday in our next Premier League match.
Solskjaer has been able to name an unchanged side in United’s last three league games since the restart against Sheffield United, Brighton and Bournemouth, which has seen the Reds win all of them emphatically.
However, Ole would have no qualms about pitching Bailly into the action.
“Victor felt his back,”
the manager told MUTV. “So there was no need to take any risks, but Eric's fine. He's got his game, 45 minutes, played against Norwich, played against West Brom [in a friendly at Old Trafford before the Premier League's resumption], so he'll be fine playing.”
The Scandinavian defender is second only to the captain for outings in the red shirt in 2019/20.
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