Sir Alex has given a number of injury updates at his press conference this morning, with the most positive being that Antonio Valencia’s injury isn’t as serious as feared.
The winger was seen leaving Carrington earlier this week on crutches and with his right ankle in a protective boot, but Sir Alex claims that Valencia only has a knock and there is a chance tha he may make the game against Spurs tomorrow evening:
“Antonio Valencia is doubtful, he got a knock, first of all, when he went into the tackle with [Daniel] Agger and [Glen] Johnson before he broke clear and got brought down. He got an ankle injury there. But, if he’s not okay for tomorrow, he should be okay for Tuesday [against Cluj].”
Having lost Nemanja Vidic for 8 weeks following surgery on his right knee, Sir Alex is hoping to make it to the international break without any more casualties. By then Chris Smalling should be back in the first team picture, but until then Sir Alex will rely on youth and can take heart from the mature performances of Michael Keane and Scott Wootton against Newcastle on Wednesday:
“We had bad news earlier in the week about Nemanja. It’s a blow. We’re having a terrible time with defenders at the moment. Hopefully, we get through the next three games and the international break comes along.
“By that time, we should have Chris Smalling back. It was interesting on Wednesday, we played two young boys and they did very well. We may get a little break from that, particularly with Scott Wootton, who’s a little bit older than Michael Keane. Scott reads the game well, passes the ball well and, having seen him in a situation against very experienced players, he did really well. That’s a little bonus for us and he’ll be involved in the game tomorrow.”
