Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has told Alexis Sanchez he should have been more honest about his fitness after suffering a latest injury setback.
The Chilean is set to return for Manchester United’s clash with Brighton on Saturday after a hamstring problem ruled him out of victory against Tottenham last weekend.
Sanchez returned ahead of schedule following a torn hamstring in November to start his first game under Solskjaer against Reading in the FA Cup this month.
But United’s interim manager claims the striker over exerted himself in that 2-0 win – costing him his place at Spurs.
Solskjaer said: “He is a player who loves to play football. You want to play football and he’s been hindered by injury.
“I know how frustrating that can be and how eager you are to get back. Maybe in the Reading game, maybe he should have told me at half time, ‘I need to come off now,’ because maybe the 15 or 20 minutes in the second half, maybe that was a bit too much for him and gave him a setback.”
The 30-year-old is likely to be eased back in with a place on the bench against Brighton at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer added: “He’s champing at the bit. He’s working hard in training.
“His attitude has been fantastic in training and he wants to play, so for me I’m looking forward to seeing him, and I’ve got loads of good players to choose from.”
Marouane Fellaini has been ruled out for around a month with a calf injury, but Eric Bailly is back after serving a three-match suspension.
Chris Smalling (foot) and Marcos Rojo (knee) are back in training, but neither will be ready for the weekend.
“There’s not many issues,” added Solskjaer. “I think just small niggles as there always is at this point of the season.
“Chris, Marcos just started running lightly so they are not fit yet Alexis has trained all week so hopefully he’s coming through the session today and he’ll be available.
“Felli is the long-term one that’s out. He’ll probably be at least three or four weeks, he’s got a calf problem and that’s sad.
“There’s X factors in different players and we all know Felli’s X factor and then again he’ll be working hard to get back in when all the big games are coming as well.”
Solskjaer is looking to extend his 100 percent start to seven games and has warned players against complacency after their outstanding form over the past month.
“As I’ve said before you go into every single game as a Man United coach or as a player or manager thinking you’ll win the next one,” he said. ’That’s just the nature of this club.
“We’ve had six good games, but the next one is the most important one.
“Everyone said about Tottenham being the test, I don’t think that’s a test in the respect of attitude, because you know that the players are going to be up for a game of that size. What I’m looking for is how do we react to a home game against a team that you think you should dominate and should be better than.
“That’s the attitude if we go out there and do it in these games, these are the points that will get you up the table.
“You cannot be too confident. Confidence is one thing, complacency is the other side of it, that you think it’s going to be easy.
“I want players to be confident but I don’t want them to be complacent and take their foot off the pedal because that’s a big difference for me.
“I want them going into the games full of confidence taking people on, playing, running passing forward getting the crowd with them because that’s what it’s about.”
Scroll through the gallery for the latest injury news ahead of the Brighton clash…
