Early team news for United v Man City in Carabao Cup

Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial were absent from the travelling party that trekked down to the Black Country at the weekend for the Emirates FA Cup third-round tie, which finished 0-0, despite some good chances for both sides.

However, speaking to the media after the match, our Norwegian manager told reporters he was optimistic that the absentees could return to restrengthen his squad for the second Manchester derby of 2019/20.

"I hope so," Solskjaer said. "They've had a night or two in their own beds and hopefully some Bovril or paracetamol.

"We’ll check on Monday probably or maybe some of them will be in tomorrow [Sunday]."

Diogo Dalot returned for his first senior minutes since early October during the contest at Molineux, coming on in the second half to replace Tahith Chong.

The boss also revealed last week that Eric Bailly, Tim Fosu-Mensah, Marcos Rojo and Axel Tuanzebe are all closer to being available for selection.

Harry Maguire could be a doubt for the Manchester City game, however. Solskjaer confirmed after the match at Molineux that the England defender had decided to play on at the interval, despite struggling with a knock.

The boss later informed the media that Maguire’s recovery will be assessed by the medical team before a decision is made regarding the derby.

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