De Gea to miss out again for United
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects to be without David de Gea against high-flying West Ham today as Manchester United look to stay second in the table.
The 30-year-old was allowed to return to Spain last week for the birth of his child, leading him to miss three matches.
Solskjaer has confirmed de Gea is back in England ahead of the clash with the Hammers and said the goalkeeper was “touch and go” to start at Old Trafford.
Travellers from Spain are currently able to be released from quarantine if they test negative for Covid-19 after five days of isolation – a timescale the United boss now believes will probably rule the No. 1 out.
“David is probably released from his quarantine and isolation with a test on Sunday afternoon maybe,” Solskjaer said. “So he probably won’t make this game.”
De Gea’s continued absence would see Dean Henderson start a fourth straight match for United.
It is shaping up to be a key week and Solskjaer stressed the importance of getting a positive result against David Moyes’ impressive Hammers.
“I think they’ve been brilliant,” said Solskjaer, who oversaw a superb 2-0 win at Manchester City last weekend.
“He’s got players who score goals, they are creative, they defend really well. They’re really difficult at set-plays. David’s done a tremendous job that we know he is capable of.
“We know this is a big game for us. It’s maybe too far ahead to City so, of course, we need to consolidate our place in the top two or three hopefully.”
Moyes has told Said Benrahma to be patient as he searches for his first West Ham goal.
Benrahma scored 17 times for Brentford in the Championship last season, but has yet to get off the mark since his £30million switch from west to east London.
“First of all, he has got to stop hitting them over the bar, he’s got to start getting them under the crossbar,” said Moyes.
“That’s his job. Said is still learning and we think he has got more to come. He has just got to stay steady.”
With their first league title in 10 years in the bag, Rangers will now focus on creating another piece of history during the remainder of the campaign.
Steven Gerrard’s side have been in imperious form in the Premiership and, with just six games remaining, they are on course to go through the campaign undefeated.
That has happened just once in the club’s 149-year history.
Way back in season 1898/99, the Light Blues won all 18 of their matches on their way to clinching the club’s second league title.
The closest they have come since to an invincible season since was in 1967/68.
Rangers went into a final-day meeting against Aberdeen at Ibrox, having won 28 and drawn five of the campaign to that point.
Ronnie Mackinnon was in the side that afternoon, and recalls that despite success on the park, it had been a bit turbulent off it.
“The successful Rangers teams I played in had two constants,” he said.
“Scot Symon as manager and Jim Baxter the dominant force on the park.
“The manager would say his piece in the dressing room pre-match.
“Then Baxter would have his say on the park. “He was the star player, so people would listen to him. He told you to just give him the ball and he would do the rest. And, more often than not, he did.”
But by the time that Aberdeen game came
around, they were long gone. Baxter was sold to Sunderland in 1965, and midway through the season in question, Symon was replaced by his assistant, Davie White.
“That was a big surprise, I have to say,” said Ronnie.
“We had infamously been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Berwick Rangers in January, 1967.
“Some players were moved on, but Symon kept his job until he lost it in October that year.
“Davie White was a different sort of manager, and a very straightforward man.
“We did well in his first season, culminating in going close to being undefeated in the league and almost pipping Celtic to the title on the final day.”
With Dunfermline meeting Hearts in the Scottish Cup Final, the Hoops had a day off, and watched on with interest to see if Rangers would go two points clear at the top of the table.
They twice took the lead, through Dave Smith and Alex Ferguson, but both times the Dons bounced back with Davie Johnston equalisers.
Then, in the final minute, Ian Taylor scored Aberdeen’s winner to scupper any hope their hosts had of stopping Celtic making it three in a row.
With their superior goal difference, the Hoops knew anything better than a 23-0 defeat against the Pars a few days later would give them the title.
With thousands locked out of East End Park for the Tuesday night clash, a Bobby Lennox double gave the visitors the points and a 2-1 win.
It was a sore one for Mackinnon and his teammates, but the centre-half was magnanimous at the time, and remains so.
“Jock Stein was a very clever man, and his teams reflected that,” he continued.
“I used to enjoy the Old Firm games, and won my fair share. But around the period we’re discussing, they had the upper hand for the most part, even though we ran them close in the league a few times.”
And that was to be the way of it for Mackinnon in his final years at Ibrox.
Celtic had done six-in-a-row by the time he suffered a badly broken leg in the European CupWinners’ Cup tie away to Sporting Lisbon.
It ended his season and Rangers career, which meant he played no part in the Final triumph in Barcelona a few months later.
“My time out gave me a chance to reflect,” said Ronnie. “And rather than take up any offers from other Scottish clubs, I decided to head for South Africa to play for Durban United.
“I enjoyed that. Apart from anything else, the weather was better!”
These days, Ronnie is 80 and back battling the Scottish elements on the Isle of Lewis.