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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirms another injury blow ahead of Astana clash

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that young attacker Daniel James won’t feature during the opening game of the Europa League group stage against Astana.

The Wales international has been a revelation since joining the Red Devils during the summer and he has already amassed three league goals from the space of five appearances.

As a result, he has become an undisputed starter in a short space of time but Solskjaer has confirmed that he won’t make the Astana game after picking up a knock in the lead up to the contest.

Elsewhere, Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial remain sidelined with ankle and thigh injuries respectively while Luke Shaw is likewise out of contention, having yet to recover from a hamstring concern.

“I don’t think we’ll see Paul or Anthony, I’m sure we won’t see them. Luke is not ready yet. Dan is touch and go. He missed training today and [his recovery] might be longer than expected but hopefully [he’ll be back for] the weekend,” Solskjaer was quoted as saying by United’s official website.

The Europa League encounter against Astana offers Solskjaer with the opportunity to test the depth of the squad and the Norwegian has already confirmed starts for Axel Tuanzebe and Mason Greenwood while Sergio Romero is expected to don the gloves ahead of David de Gea.

Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes and James Garner are among the other young graduates in contention for playing time while Solskjaer will also be able to bank on the services of Jesse Lingard and Diogo Dalot, who have recovered from their respective fitness concerns.

Manchester United recently ended a three-match winless run in the Premier League as they picked up a close 1-0 win over Leicester City at Old Trafford. Marcus Rashford found the net through a penalty kick which took his goal tally to three for the season.