After the first of back to back matches against Aston Villa, in different competitions, Manchester United caretaker boss Ralf Rangnick provided some fitness updates on a couple of key players on his roster. Rangnick discussed the injury status of both his team captain, Harry Maguire, and the face of the franchise, Cristiano Ronaldo.
We’ll start with the latter, as the German said that CR7’s muscular injury was not “anything serious.” Ronaldo missed the 1-0 FA Cup third round win over the Villans, as did Maguire, Jadon Sancho and Phil Jones.
“I spoke with Cristiano yesterday before training, he told me that he’s had some problems for the last couple of days,” said Rangnick.
“Minor problems, but in the end, we decided that it made more sense to not take any risks in a game that could easily last 120 minutes, so we just decided to rest him.
“He had some problems with his hip, with his hip muscle. I don’t think it’s anything serious.”
United take on Villa again, this time in a Premier League fixture, at Villa Park on Saturday. Rangnick hopes Maguire will be available for selection in that one.
“We had two centre-backs available [against Villa], all the other ones were injured,” Rangnick said.
“Hopefully for the away game at Villa on Saturday we will also have a few other players available, including Harry as the centre-back that will give us more options. Phil Jones will hopefully be fit again for the game on Saturday.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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