Skinner provides Hinata update in press conference

The Japanese midfielder will be out “until after Christmas” but the Reds boss is confident she is in the best place for her recovery.

Manchester United will take on Tottenham Hotspur this weekend, our first game since the last international break of the year and we are looking to come back strongly.

Skinner sat down with the press ahead of Sunday’s fixture on Friday morning, and you can see the key points from his media briefing below.

INJURY NEWS

“Hini will probably be out until after Christmas. We are waiting on an assessment.

“It looks like she will miss these three games and then once she has had the assessment, we will let people know.

“We will confirm that later. Irene [Guerrero] is still training but is likely to miss these three games and be back after Christmas.

“Apart from that, everybody else has reported okay.”

THE THREAT OF SPURS

“I think they want to attack. I watched the Spurs game against Manchester City, it was never a 7-0 game.

“I thought Tottenham’s attacking play was bright and you could see what they were trying to do.

“I think they will do the same again and I think that they will mark that as a something they will not want to experience again but they will also take their positives from it. We need to make sure they don’t get chances.

“Beth [England] has a chance to be back and we all know how good she is.

“We know Martha [Thomas] and Grace [Clinton] too are playing well. I think it is going to be a tough game and we have to be at our very best.”

THIS SEASON'S INJURIES

“Emma [Watson] did her [injury] on international camp, Hini’s was on international camp.

“There’s obviously an increase in games but you can’t really do anything. Gabby’s was a squad-depth issue where we didn’t have enough rotation at the time but it was also a none-impact injury.

“It’s difficult. You can look to manage soft-tissue injuries and look at how hard you are training.

“There’s not really much we can do about those. I can’t moan about the injuries, it’s not ideal but it’s about getting them back strongly.”

GOING BACK TO MALTA IN JANUARY

“It’s lovely at that time of year and it’s a really positive experience for us. We have all our players back together.

“We are giving them a proper Christmas break this year. There has been a lot of football whether it’s international or here. It’s important to spend time with your family.

“The weather can sometimes be challenging in Manchester so that will be nice to get them all on the same page in Malta in nicer weather.

“I hope we will continue to push the envelope to bring in new players if we can.”