Alan Shearer has explained why Bruno Fernandes’ recent hamstring injury ‘will hurt’ Manchester United over the busy winter period.
At the weekend, Manchester United suffered a disappointing defeat to Aston Villa, and to make matters far worse, the often indestructible Bruno Fernandes was forced to exit proceedings.
United’s Portuguese maestro has been renowned for his stellar injury record during his time in the Premier League, although on Sunday, he appeared to suffer an injury to his hamstring.
Ruben Amorim replaced his captain at half-time with Lisandro Martinez, who put in an impressively polished display as his side fell just short at Villa Park.
With the Africa Cup of Nations now underway, Fernandes adds to a list of important absentees that the Reds will need to learn to live without for the time being.
Shearer on Fernandes’ injury
When speaking to Betfair, via Manchester Evening News, Alan Shearer said, “Losing Bruno Fernandes at any time would be bad, but losing him when you’re already missing three players in [Noussair] Mazraoui, [Amad] Diallo, and [Bryan] Mbeumo will hurt Man United.
“He’s been the one constant through all their troubles, the one pulling them through games at times. There’s no doubt they’ll miss him massively. He very rarely gets injured, so he’ll be a big miss.
“Performance-wise, I thought Man United did alright against Villa, but the result was decided by Morgan Rogers. With injuries and people away, Newcastle are the same.
“They have massive injuries defensively, but Lewis Miley was brilliant at right-back. He was one of the best players on the park. Both teams are struggling because of injury situations.”
Amorim issues injury details
After his side’s defeat to Unai Emery’s Villains, Amorim explained that he expects Fernandes to be unavailable for the foreseeable future, despite not knowing an exact timeframe.
“It’s a soft tissue, I think he’s [Fernandes] going to lose some games, I don’t know for sure. Let’s see,” Amorim said.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about matters you can’t control. He is a guy who is always fit so he might recover quite well.
READ MORE: Manchester United looking at potential midfield options in January following Bruno Fernandes injury
“I think Kobbie [Mainoo] might be out [against Newcastle], Bruno is out, so we will see, we are going to find solutions, no excuses, we need to win the next game and we will try to win the next game.”
United will face an injury-riddled Newcastle United side on Boxing Day, so it will be interesting to see how Amorim deals with his current list of absentees.
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