Pog to return for Spurs showdown
OLE Gunnar Solskjaer expects Paul Pogba to be fit for United’s Premier League encounter with Tottenham on Sunday.
The midfielder suffered a knee injury inflicted by Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey last week which forced him to sit out the FA Cup fourth round win over Reading, although he was never likely to figure in that tie.
The 25-year-old was not among the United squad that flew to Dubai last Saturday as he was still having treatment at the club’s Carrington training ground. Pogba eventually flew to the United Arab Emirates on Monday.
He did ball work during United’s five-day stay in the Gulf and Solskjaer is hopeful he will return to the starting XI at Wembley.
“He looked okay towards the end, so he will be fit,” Solskjaer said. “He did have some problems but came through the last couple of sessions well, so he should be okay.”
Marcos Rojo has not played since the Champions League group stage defeat at Valencia on December 12 and has only appeared three times all season.
The 28-year-old has played just six club games since United handed him a new three-year contract in March and Solskjaer sounded downbeat when asked about Rojo’s fitness.
“Rojo? He has gone back to Argentina for a while because of his injury,” Solskjaer added.
“How long will he be out for? How long is a piece of rope? For him it was mentally important to go away and come back fresh again.”
Solskjaer scored seven goals against Tottenham, the team he rejected a move to in 1998, but marvelled at their current frontman Harry Kane.
The England captain is joint-top scorer in the Premier League with Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang but has only netted twice against United.
“He is not bad, is he?” Solskjaer remarked. “He is a fantastic goalscorer and one of the best in the world but I have got a couple that I am happy to work with. He is a top, top professional. I’m sure whoever plays with him and plays and trains with him can talk more about him, but from the outside he is a fantastic finisher, he never misses chances so let’s make sure he doesn’t get any against us.”