Solskjaer provides Maguire and Shaw injury update ahead of Man Utd v Villarreal

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer appears to have ruled Harry Maguire out of Manchester United’s Champions League clash with Villarreal, but Luke Shaw could feature at Old Trafford.

Both players were forced off with injuries as the Red Devils suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League at the weekend.

Shaw only managed 34 minutes of the defeat, but the England left-back looks to have made significant strides with his recovery following his knock and United will make a late call regarding his involvement in Wednesday’s Group F encounter.

However, club captain Maguire – who was replaced midway through the second half versus Villa – is set to be sidelined for ‘a few weeks’, meaning Victor Lindelof is likely to come in alongside Raphael Varane at centre-back.

‘Luke has been in today so I’ll give him a chance to be involved, he didn’t train with the team,’ Solskjaer told reporters at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon.

‘Harry is more or less definitely out, it doesn’t look good.

‘It is his calf, that might take a few weeks. Let’s see how quickly he recovers.

‘He wanted to play against Villarreal, he missed the last game. We will have to make a few changes.’

Asked whether United could switch to a five-man defence in Maguire’s absence, Solskjaer replied: ‘You always look at the opposition and sometimes you need to make adjustments.

‘We look at ourselves mostly. The more injuries you get you might need to do tactical changes.

‘I have got Eric [Bailly], Raphael, Victor. Alex [Telles] and Diogo [Dalot] are all 100 per cent fit. Hopefully Luke can be involved.’

Solskjaer is anticipating a tough match against Unai Emery’s ‘very well organised’ Villarreal outfit, who beat his United side in last year’s Europa League final.

‘You expect what you have learned in the last few seasons,’ he added.

‘We have played each other five times, every time has been a draw. Very well organised, technically very good. They can play from the back. It is hard to press against them, which I thought we did well in the final.

‘Difficult to create chances against and we have to be better to create chances. It was an even final.’

United head into tomorrow night’s match in wretched form after three defeats in four games, but Solskjaer is confident the club will get over their recent struggles.

‘My focus is always to win the next game, short-term and think long-term about the squad building. My focus now has been on winning this game, getting back on track,’ the Norwegian went on.

‘Then we focus on the league again from Thursday morning. We would have loved to be top of the league, but we are still up there.

‘With the squad and coaches I have got we can improve and we will get that consistency.’

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