Ruben Amorim is facing a growing injury list which now includes the Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, who was forced off at half-time during Sunday’s Premier League defeat at Aston Villa.
Fernandes, United’s talisman and most important player, was involved in much of the first half action at Villa Park but caused concern just before half-time by stretching out his right leg and hobbling around the pitch.
Fernandes, who has only missed two games through injury in his United career. went off after a challenge from Villa midfielder Amadou Onana.
Amorim said: “It is really strange. It’s a soft tissue, I think he’s going to lose some games, I don’t know for sure. Let’s see. I think it’s going to be a while. He is a guy who is always fit so he might recover quite well.”
Meanwhile, Amorim has said United cannot afford to make mistakes in the transfer market by panic buying to cope without Fernandes.
While United were interested in Brighton’s Carlos Baleba in the summer and their long-term targets could include Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Amorim said they may suffer in the short term rather than blundering in the market.
And he argued that Fernandes’ absence cannot be an excuse as he has to find solutions internally to help his side cope without the Portugal international.
“We need to deal with that,” he said. “What we cannot do is to reach January and try to do everything in urgency and make mistakes and then [it’s] ‘here we go again’ with a lot of mistakes. I’m not going to get [together] with Jason [Wilcox, the director of football] and Omar [Berrada, the chief executive] and say: ‘We need a lot of players.’
“Because we have a plan. If we have to suffer, the club comes first. Of course, we are in a moment where we need points but we need to find solutions and we are going to continue with our plan.”
Amorim also spoke about academy players Jack Fletcher and Shea Lacey who were given minutes against Villa and may need to step into vacant roles. The manager added: “I think Fletcher did his first game, so that is good news, Lacey the same, so we will try to find solutions and go for the next game. I am a manager for six years and even Sporting is all about the academy, so it’s about the history.
“I just want to win and want to be certain that the players that come in from the academy are not going to suffer too much. I’m just trying to help the club, it doesn’t matter if it’s from the academy or abroad.”
Fernandes was seen walking to the dug out after the second half kicked off but was limping and moving gingerly before taking his place in the stands.
Diogo Dalot explained how the loss of Fernandes impacted the team telling Sky Sports: “It’s massive, we don’t know how bad it is but for him to come off the game… We know how tough he is, hopefully it is not too bad, and we keep with him for the next games.
“This is the times where opportunities come for other players. The time that you step up and show that you deserve to be in the team, that you deserve more minutes. I think that’s how the players that are going to get opportunities should look at it.”
Fernandes is the latest member of the United squad to pick up an injury and now there are serious concerns for Amorim’s midfield as Martinez was brought on to play alongside Manuel Ugarte.
Ahead of the game at Villa Park, Kobbie Mainoo was left out of the matchday squad with a calf injury picked up during training on Saturday.
Defenders Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt also missed the match with respective thigh and back problems while Noussair Mazraoui, Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo are all on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Brazilian midfielder Casemiro missed the Villa clash due to suspension but should be available for the next game against Newcastle on Boxing Day.
That game begins a run of four matches in 13 days for Manchester United and should they be without their captain it could seriously hurt their chances of finishing inside the top six Premier League spots.
