Manchester United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed Anthony Martial is ill and that is the reason why he is not in the squad to face Huddersfield Town at Old Trafford.
Martial played a pivotal role in the 5-1 thrashing of Cardiff City in South Wales last Saturday, but Solskjaer has explained that the flying Frenchman picked up an illness over Christmas, which has ruled him out of Boxing Day's Old Trafford clash. The good news however, is the boss has suggested Martial could return for the visit of Bournemouth on Sunday.
He told MUTV and Sky Sports: “He must have had a bad chef over Christmas - he has fallen ill. If it is food poisoning or if it is something else, I don’t know.
”Hopefully, he will be fit for the game on Sunday. The other two [Diogo Dalot and Fred in for Ashley Young and Ander Herrera] are just changes that I think are right for this game.“
Ole speaks to MUTV before the game.
Solskjaer was also asked if he dreamed of this return to Old Trafford as United boss and explained that the Reds must match the performance we put in against Cardiff last time out.
“To be fair a few years ago, yes,
“ he replied. ”
Lately, I have just settled down back home and I never thought this was going to happen so you do pinch yourself once in a while.
It’s a game we need to perform as well as we did against Cardiff. It is a new game, we can’t rely on that once performance and think it's going to happen by itself again,“ he continued.
”We want to get back to coming here at Old Trafford and over the first 10 minutes, not doing anything, but attack, try and get the crowd on their feet and, of course, try and get the first goal.
“I am quite calm now, I am just looking forward to it. I am a lot calmer than I thought I was going to be.”