MANCHESTER UNITED fans are dreading the prospect of seeing two senior stars starting against Tottenham.
Ruben Amorim warned that his side had suffered some setbacks in training this week.
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A report from The Athletic has now revealed three of the affected stars are Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer.
The trio have been a major part of the Red Devils squad in recent weeks, with Ugarte and Collyer in particular providing much-needed energy in midfield.
However, all three are now set to miss Sunday’s trip to Tottenham.
Ugarte and Collyer are said to be major doubts for the mid-table clash, while Mainoo is reported to be sidelined for more than a couple of weeks.
While club captain Bruno Fernandes has filled in as one of the two pivot players in recent weeks, a lack of options up front may prompt Amorim to play him in the front three.
That would leave veteran duo Christian Eriksen and Casemiro as the only two senior midfielders in the squad who can play in the engine room.
However, the pair have a combined age of 65, and it has shown this season.
The last time the pair started together in the Premier League was in the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle at the end of December.
Since then, Eriksen has played a total of ten minutes off the bench in the league while Casemiro has been a permanent bench-warmer.
Reacting to the potential midfield pivot tomorrow, one fan said: “Good heavens what next??? I see Casemiro & Eriksen starting & getting run through like a hot knife through butter.
A second said: “Hopefully we keep possession if not, Spurs will run this Casemiro and Eriksen partnership.”
Another fan said: “Hopefully one of Ugarte/Collyer will be alright. Otherwise it’s Casemiro/Eriksen again and we saw what happened vs Newcastle United.”
A fourth added: “Casemiro/Eriksen pivot?! We won’t be there!!”
A fifth said: “Nightmare fuel.”
The injury crisis has also seen Amorim call up a number of stars from the club’s Carrington academy.
Jack Moorhouse, 19, is travelling with the first-team squad after an impressive season with the Under-21s.
Amorim, 40, personally watched the midfielder during a 5-1 win over Southampton in December, in which the Manchester-born star scored twice.
Injuries across the board have seen Amorim promote a number of youngsters into first-team training.
Striker Chido Obi and winger James Scanlon were not included with the Under-18 squad on Saturday following their participation in first-team training this week.
Asked specifically about 17-year-old Obi, Amorim said: “I don’t want to say names.
“We have to be careful on that. We have problems this week, we called some young players to be in our training. We have some data evaluation. He is one of them.”
Amorim was forced to name 21-year-old goalkeeper Hubert Graczyk on the Man Utd bench for the first time in the FA Cup triumph over Leicester with both Altay Bayindir and Tom Heaton out injured.
Graczyk is effectively seventh-choice at Old Trafford, but fifth and eighth-choice players Elyh Harrison and William Murdock have been included in first-team training this week.
New arrival Ayden Heaven was also named on the bench after recently signing from Arsenal, while Patrick Dorgu started the game before he was hooked at half-time of the 2-1 win.
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