Manchester United’s injury problems have worsened, with midfielder Juan Mata joining defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
United announced on Friday that Mata, 28, has had surgery on a groin problem.<\/p>\n
Jones, 25, injured a toe in an innocuous training-ground tackle, with reports claiming it involved Smalling.<\/i><\/p>\n
Smalling, 27, has been pictured wearing a leg brace<\/i>, and United manager Jose Mourinho said both central defenders would be out “long term”.<\/p>\n
The club are yet to reveal how long Mata will be out for, and said updates on his recovery “will follow in due course”.<\/p>\n
Captain Wayne Rooney returns for Saturday’s Premier League game against West Brom (15:00 BST) after recovering from a knee injury.<\/p>\n
The 31-year-old has missed the Red Devils’ past four games.<\/p>\n
But United will be without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Ander Herrera, who are both suspended, and midfielder Paul Pogba, who has a hamstring problem.<\/p>\n
Asked how long he expects to be without Jones and Smalling, Mourinho: “I don’t know. I think clearly they are long-term injuries, and Pogba I have no idea.”<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manchester United’s injury problems have worsened, with midfielder Juan Mata joining defenders Chris Smalling and Phil Jones on the sidelines. United announced on Friday that Mata, 28, has had surgery on a groin problem. Jones, 25, injured a toe in an innocuous training-ground tackle, with reports claiming it involved Smalling. Smalling, 27, has been pictured […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n