Greenwood worry for Man United ahead of Crystal Palace game

You are currently viewing Greenwood worry for Man United ahead of Crystal Palace game
  • Post published:July 16, 2020

Mason Greenwood is a doubt to face Crystal Palace on Thursday after being left with a damaged ankle by Oriol Romeu’s challenge on Monday, according to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Greenwood was caught late by Romeu in an incident that went unpunished by referee Chris Kavanagh during Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Southampton at Old Trafford.

Manager Solskjaer, who was unhappy to see the challenge escape further punishment through a VAR review, now fears the in-form 18-year-old will not be available for the Premier League clash at Selhurst Park.

Luke Shaw twisted his ankle in the same match and replacement Brandon Williams sustained a head injury, leading to substantial second-half injury time in which Michael Obafemi scored Southampton’s equaliser.

‘I’ll give Luke as much time as possible – him and Mason, their ankles are swollen and a bit blown up,’Solskjaer told MUTV. ‘I’ll give them as much recovery time as possible to give them a chance.

‘Brandon should be fine, he has a gash over the eye but if he can see out of it, then …

‘We’ve not trained obviously this morning [Wednesday] yet but we’ll hopefully have two, maybe all three of them.’

Solskjaer added of Greenwood, who played on until the 84th minute: ‘In the heat of the moment, he’ll play on and the adrenaline gets you going, and then you get a little bit of reaction after.

‘I said after the game that my ankles were a bit weak after many years of football. But obviously Mason carried on and I think it should have been looked upon by the referee, definitely.’

Greenwood has played in all seven of United’s matches since their campaign restarted on 19 June, scoring four goals in his past four starts.

The Saints draw means United are fifth on the table, behind Leicester City on goal difference with three matches remaining.

And Solskjaer confirmed he will not consider resting any of his players against Palace ahead of Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea.

United have 48 hours less to prepare for the Wembley showdown than Chelsea, with Frank Lampard’s side having beaten Norwich City on Tuesday night.

However, Solskjaer said: ‘The team selection for Thursday is based on Thursday and not Sunday. Sunday is irrelevant, it does not come into my head at all, just Thursday.

‘There were a couple of doubts before the Southampton game but they all reported fit on the day and hopefully we can give them time now and we won’t have to leave players out because of injury. But there might be one or two fresh legs coming in.’