Ayden Heaven was not involved in Manchester United’s training session on Wednesday afternoon as they prepare for an important clash against Lyon.
Manchester United and Lyon shared a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final in France last week, setting the stage for a decisive showdown at Old Trafford on Thursday night.
Ruben Amorim’s side come into the fixture following a heavy 4-1 defeat to Newcastle, a result compounded by an injury to Joshua Zirkzee, further disrupting their plans.
Lyon, on the other hand, head to Manchester with momentum after a convincing 3-1 win over Auxerre at the weekend, a result that helped them maintain fourth place in Ligue 1.
United must now regroup and find a way to get the job done on Thursday, with preparations for the crucial clash already in full swing.
The early portion of Wednesday afternoon’s training session was open to the media, offering a glimpse at who was — and wasn’t — involved ahead of the all-important second leg.
Why Heaven was absent for United training this week
One of the first things noticed during that session was that Ayden Heaven wasn’t involved despite having returned from injury last week.
It looked like Heaven’s season would be over after he went down in pain against Leicester City before the international break but the issue was fortunately not as bad as first anticipated.
The two-week break afterwards gave the teenager time to recover and he was named on the bench against Newcastle last time out.
However, Chris Wheeler revealed that the 18-year-old has suffered a “slight setback” and that is why he was not spotted in team training on Wednesday.
That also means it’s unlikely Heaven will play in the second-leg clash against Lyon on Thursday evening as United take caution with his situation.
In-form Yoro eases Heaven concerns
Thankfully for United, the team have Leny Yoro playing at left centre-back and the Frenchman has been in solid form.
Barring a piece of embarrassing analysis from Thierry Henry earlier this week, everything has been positive around Yoro and it seems like he’s building confidence after the first half of his season was interrupted by injury.
It would have certainly been nice to see Heaven take to the pitch after he made a strong impression on United fans in games before the international break but it’s better to ensure he is fully fit heading into fixtures.
Jonny Evans also returned to training this week and that means Amorim will have some extra experience on his bench to face the French side this week, while Heaven will be hoping to return to the team soon.
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