Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has dropped a hint that Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford may not be thrown into Premier League action straight away.
Both players have been out of action due to injuries this season, with the duo using the unexpected break to fight their ways back to fitness.
The coronavirus pandemic caused a three-month suspension to fixtures, with United restarting their campaign in just under two weeks time when they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to take on Spurs in their first game back.
Rashford and Pogba have been taking part in training alongside their teammates ahead of the game, but Solskjaer has hinted that they still may not be able to play a full part in the games.
“Well, we hope everybody’s going to be ready for the first game,” he told the club’s official website..
“We’ve had time out so I don’t think we can expect that those lads who’ve missed lots of the football can last the full game.”
The Premier League have announced a rule change that will allow clubs to make up to five substitutes during the upcoming games, increasing from the usual three and the United boss said that the update will help clubs during a difficult time.
He added: “But now the rules have changed, we can use five subs and have nine on the bench. I think that’s helpful because footballers, after being out for so long, going into competitive games will be a challenge for them and we have to look after them injury-wise and fitness-wise,” he added.
“We can’t just flog one player and say to them, ‘you play every game and every minute’ because it might be a period when we have to rotate quite often.”
