Manchester United will welcome Luke Shaw back to their side for their pre-season friendly against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Shaw missed the final seven games of United's 2019/20 campaign after hobbling off during the 2-2 draw with Southampton after suffering an ankle problem.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed Shaw is impressing in United training at Carrington and will play a part at Villa Park. United have an extra week of preparation, as the Premier League begins this weekend, after their participation in the Europa League latter stages.
Solskjaer gave an indication of the team he may pick against Dean Smith's side, also providing an update on centre-back and former Villa loanee Axel Tuanzebe who has been out long-term.
“For me, Luke is looking really good in training. He has come back, looking strong, and will play in the friendly against Villa,” Solskjaer told United's official website.
“Then Axel [Tuanzebe] is getting closer as well. In a few weeks’ time, I guess he will be with us training full-time and hopefully we’ll be able to give him games quickly.”
The United boss admitted some players will not feature at Villa as he seeks to get the balance right between game-time and saving players' legs for the season proper. United's league opener is at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday September 19th.
“It’s going to be a game to give players minutes,” added the Norwegian. “Some have trained more than others and some will be more ready than others. Some played international games, which actually sometimes you think you don’t really want that but some of them have got valuable minutes there.
“We’ll give the others minutes against Villa so they can all start on a decent level because it’s going to be a long season.”
As the MEN reported today, Paul Pogba is now back in training having recovered from coronavirus. New signing Donny van de Beek may also be in line to make his debut for the club after signing from Ajax.
Sergio Romero, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Phil Jones, Fred and Nemanja Matic have not been spotted at the training ground since pre-season training started last week, while Juan Mata is training at home in quarantine.
Solskjaer added that the current circumstances were not ideal preparation for United, but said he was making no excuses.
"That’s the reality of it, no point arguing or discussing it or being miserable or moaning about it. This is the reality," he said.
“We’re going to make the most of it. Of course, the first few games are going to be important to give as many players minutes as well because it’s such a long season.
“We’re going to need most of them throughout the season.”
