By Tomilayo Alapinni
October 6, 2014
Manchester United’s full back Luke Shaw has refuted claims that he could be set for another spell on the side-lines.
The teenager seemed to have sustained an injury to the knee as he limped off during The Red Devil’s victory over the Toffees this afternoon. However, the former Southampton man believes that he will be fit enough to file out for the English under 21 team in their clash against Croatia this coming Friday.
Shaw, this afternoon made his second competitive appearance for the Old Trafford outfit since his summer switch from Southampton and was quoted by the Manchester Evening News as saying:
‘I spoke with the doctor and obviously the manager as well and both feel its best that I do go (with the England’s under 21s) as it is not an injury that is going to keep me out’.
Shaw is also optimistic that he will be back in training within the next couple of days and should be able to get another 2 games of 90 minutes each.
Also while fielding questions during post-match conference about why Luke Shaw left was replaced with Tyler Blacklet with 19 minutes to go, the United boss revealed that Luke Shaw had a dead knee and leaving him on could have made it worse.
The manager’s statement completely aligns with Shaw’s claims that his substitution wasn’t based on an injury scare but a precautionary one.
Manchester United will be relieved to hear such news having recently lost about 6 integral team members to various kinds of injuries, and have just welcomed back Michael Carrick and Phil Jones.
The United boss will also be hoping that the injury worries are beginning to ease out on the club as it will be recalled that in a drastic measure to cushion the effects that the absence of key players will have on the back-line, Van Gaal has handed about 3 reserve team players, Jesse Lingard, Tyler Blacklet and Paddy Mc Nair their professional debut, and although this tactic has been salvaging some matches, other games like the ones against Swansea and Liecester City have been disastrous with Tyler getting a red card towards the end of United’s defeat at the King Power Stadium.
Luis Van Gaal will be expected to do more business by January with real emphasis on the defence as Manchester United cannot continue to field a makeshift back-line while hoping to force its way back to the elite clique.
