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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Samuel Luckhurst

Manchester United give team news and Paul Pogba injury update vs Istanbul Basaksehir

Manchester United are hopeful Paul Pogba will be available for their Champions League group stage game at home to Istanbul Basaksehir.

Pogba missed the weekend win over West Brom with a knock he sustained on international duty in France's victory over Sweden but he trained with the first-team on Monday morning.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer suggested Luke Shaw could be out for over a month with a hamstring injury and clarified Jesse Lingard is self-isolating after he came into contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.

"We hope he's going to be available," Solskjaer said of Pogba. "He trained this morning, see if there's any reaction when we report tomorrow. Luke Shaw is out, Phil Jones is out, Jesse is still self-isolating after being in contact with a positive case. And there are one or two little things we need to look at in the morning but hopefully everyone else is available.

"I hope nearer to four (weeks out for Shaw) but with a recurrence of hamstring injuries you can't risk anything and he's still not training with us, we'll see how he reacts to the programme he's on and to the rehab work. Hopefully near four but probably nearer five or six."

United will be able to make five substitutions against Basaksehir and Solskjaer can name a matchday squad of up to 23 players, a format he much prefers to the 18-man matchday squads in domestic games.

Bruno Fernandes has only started on the bench four times since he joined United in January and Solskjaer is mindful of the Portuguese's conditioning as he prepares for his first winter in English football.

Solskjaer said: "Five subs is definitely not a relief but it gives you the chance to rest players earlier because if you want to make two subs at half-time you've still got a chance to make subs and rest players, because it's going to be a long, long season. And it's not just about this game but a whole accumulation of football.

"So I like the five subs, I also like the size of the squads because the players feel involved, especially during lockdown. Sometimes if you're told you're not in the squad you've got to stay at home and you can't go and see your friend or see the game with a friend. That's another mental welfare that we have to look after with the players, so Champions League, I like it.

"Bruno is not going to be able to play every single game, that's for sure. So when he only played one-and-a-half games with Portugal during the international break I was very happy."

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