Injured Pogba’s set to be out until December

UNITED fear Paul Pogba could be out until December with a troublesome ankle injury.

The midfielder has played in only two of the past 10 Reds games after he sustained an ankle knock in the 1-1 draw with Southampton on August 31.

The 26-year-old returned for the Carabao Cup third round tie with Rochdale on September 25 and lined-up against Arsenal five days later, but has not played for club or country since.

Pogba flew to Dubai for some warm-weather training earlier this month and said on October 19 he was ‘almost there’ following his return to Manchester.

However, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested the best-case scenario for a Pogba return is the trip to Sheffield United after the November internationals.

“I don’t think we’ll see him maybe before December. He’ll be out for a while,” said Solskjaer. “He needs time to fully, fully recover, so I don’t think he’ll be back... maybe Sheffield United after the international break but probably December before you can see him.

“I’m not the doctor but there is an injury there that needs healing, yes. Ankle rather than foot.”

Pogba was pictured in training kit at the Manchester United Foundation’s Dream Day at the club’s Carrington training complex on Saturday but was not involved in full training.

United travel to Kazakhstan for their penultimate Europa League group game with Astana on November 28 and host Aston Villa on December 1.

Solskjaer, meanwhile described Anthony Martial as ‘vital’ following his phenomenal impact in their 3-1 win at Norwich City.

The forward returned from an eight-week lay-off with a thigh injury as a substitute against

Liverpool last week and made a goalscoring return to the line-up at Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.

The 23-year-old’s impact was most profound at Norwich, where he crowned United’s best performance since the 3-1 comeback at Paris Saint-Germain with an elegant third, having had a first-half penalty saved.

Martial now has four goals and an assist from five starts this term.

When it was suggested to Solskjaer the third, which featured a reverse pass by Marcus Rashford, was comparable with Dwight Yorke’s and Andy Cole’s telepathy, he replied: “Or Sheringham and Solskjaer! Great to see them link up.

“We’ve missed Anthony the last two months and it’s great to have him back. Him and Marcus, they’re just going to improve and that partnership is going to grow.

“Sometimes we play the two of them, today we had Dan James as well, so we had the three of them.

“So very happy and great finish by Anthony. He’s vital for us. He’s a top striker and to have him back, fit, smiling, enjoying his football is a big thing for us.

“He’s clever in his movement but he’s not been given credit for his clever defending.

“We feel Anthony’s an important player for us.”