The French international was not present Saturday along with teammates Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that Paul Pogba, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw all missed out on Manchester United’s FA Cup win over Watford on Saturday through injury.
Scott McTominay’s goal in the fifth minute against the Hornets was the only goal of the game at Old Trafford, putting United through to the fourth round with a 1-0 win.
Pogba, Lindelof and Shaw all started on Wednesday, when United fell 2-0 to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup semi-final.
But in his post-match press conference just days later, Solskjaer confirmed that all three had been injured – although he did not analyze the nature of their concerns.
Asked about the three, Solskjaer would simply say: “They are wounded.”
With those three players out and Solskjaer looking to turn his squad into the middle of a busy games schedule, several fringe players got a chance to start against Watford.
Among them was Donny van de Beek, who did not enjoy regular playing time after his summer move from Ajax.
Solskjaer was pleased with what he saw from the Dutch international on Saturday, saying he had shown great potential.
“I think Donny again showed his features, his speed, he’s technically very clean,” Solskjaer said.
“One little flick to play Juan [Mata] through and has that quality to open tight games. He will benefit from this game as well. “
Brandon Williams also got a start against Watford. Following last season’s positive campaign, Williams has limited his playing time in 2020-21, leading to talk that he could leave the club on loan this month.
“I thought he had a really good game,” Solskjaer said of the 20-year-old defender. “He hasn’t played for a while, playing on the right. He may be easier on the right side but very pleased with Brandon, one of the positive things.”
United are up against a quick turnaround after a win over Watford, as they travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley in a Premier League match on Tuesday.
Solskjaer’s side are currently level on points with Liverpool at the top of the table, and have played one game less than Jurgen Klopp’s men.