Paul Pogba could be out until after the international break as Manchester United aim to finally resolve his ankle injury.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is considering saving the midfielder for the clash with Liverpool later this month - meaning he would be ruled out of joining up with the rest of the France squad after Sunday’s visit to Newcastle.
Pogba stayed behind in Manchester as United took on AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League on Thursday after suffering a recurrence of his ankle problem, which has seen him miss four of the last six games.
His potential absence is another blow to Solskjaer as United aim to end their 10-match winless run away from home.
Anthony Martial, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jesse Lingard are also likely to miss the trip to St James’ Park.
Solskjaer said Pogba would “probably not” be available for Newcastle, adding: “There’s an international break as well. It might be time for us to give him 10 or 14 days extra to be ready for Liverpool.”
Lingard pulled up in the goalless draw with AZ with a hamstring injury, while Martial is still to recover from a thigh strain.
Shaw is back in training after pulling his hamstring, but remains a doubt, while Wan-Bissaka is ill.
Solskjaer added that the plastic pitch at Den Haag’s Cars Jeans Stadium hadn’t helped preparations.
“There's a few backs hurting now,” he said. “It is a hard surface, very hard, but hopefully they'll be okay.
“They'll have a couple of days for recovery and should be ready for Newcastle, no excuses whatsoever.”
