United Briefing: Surely the best in England
Luke Shaw was at the heart of the conversation among five former Manchester United players earlier this week, following his recent form for club and country.
The Reds full-back registered an assist during England’s 2-0 win in Albania on Sunday, on what was his first appearance for the Three Lions in two-and-a-half years.
Shaw’s return to the national squad for this month’s fixtures comes off the back of an impressive campaign for his club, that has included him winning a second successive Player of the Month award.
The panel for MUTV Group Chat - Ben Thornley, Danny Webber, David May and Wes Brown - are firmly among Luke's advocates and when they were joined by United legend Paddy Crerand on the latest episode, the latter expressed his joy at the full-back’s recent form.
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“I’m delighted for him,” said Paddy.
“When he came to Manchester United, he looked as if he was going to have a great career as a full-back. Then he got the bad injury that put him out for a long period of time, and now he’s back.
“I’m delighted for him because I think he’s an excellent player. It’s a bonus for United.”
May also had praise for Shaw, who was one of eight nominees for March’s Premier League Player of the Month, and endorsed the 25-year-old being at the front of the queue for England’s left-back spot going into the summer’s European Championships and beyond.
“[He’s been] phenomenal," said Maysie. "Absolutely phenomenal, he’s been different class.
“He’s England’s number one full-back going into the tournaments because he’s been exceptional, he really has.”
Shaw is expected to be involved when England face Poland at 19:45 BST and you can follow live updates via our International Reds blog.
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It promises to be a busy last day of the international break, featuring four countries who could field our players. It would have been five but Victor Lindelof's withdrawal from the Sweden squad "for personal, private reasons" ahead of their home game against Estonia has been confirmed by their assistant manager Peter Wettergren.
Dean Henderson, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and on-loan Jesse Lingard could all be involved in England's clash with Poland at Wembley, David De Gea's Spain host Kosovo, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial's France are away to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Scott McTominay is due to be on duty for Scotland at home to Faroe Islands. All four games are World Cup qualifiers and will kick off at 19:45 BST, with updates available in our International Reds blog.
Also today, we'll be publishing an exclusive interview with Academy midfielder James Garner about his experiences on loan with Nottingham Forest, and showing the first and last Premier League goals scored by some legendary United strikers, including Ole Gunnar Solskjaer who netted for the 126th and final time on this day in 2007.
WHAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY?
Daniel James and Donny van de Beek both scored goals for Wales and Netherlands, respectively, and you can watch them both via our International Reds blog.
Our Goal of the Month poll for March opened, giving you the chance to vote for any one of ten strikes spread across the men's team, women's team and Under-18s until the winner is announced on Saturday.
We reported on preparations for Sunday's game against Brighton & Hove Albion and presented 25 photos from the squad's latest workout at the Aon Training Complex.
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We confirmed the kick-off times for the club's third and fourth Premier League fixtures in April, at home to Burnley and away to Leeds United.
Make sure you catch up on the latest from social media as well: Edinson Cavani has shared an heart-warming home workout, and Marcus Rashford has responded to a "touching" tribute from a mentor.