Louis van Gaal has revealed Wayne Rooney and Marcos Rojo will miss the match against West Ham United on 5 December due to injuries. Manchester United's boss refused to set a deadline for their recoveries, but believes that Rooney may well be out for the crucial Champions League trip to Wolfsburg on Tuesday.
Jesse Lingard is ready to return to action against the Hammers but Ander Herrera and Phil Jones remain on the sidelines alongside long-term absentees Luke Shaw and Antonio Valencia.
Rooney was replaced by Memphis Depay in the second half of the 1-1 draw against Leicester City last weekend. Van Gaal claimed after the match that he did not believe the England captain was injured and he hooked him as he was limping as the Red Devils needed a goal. However, the Dutch boss has now admitted that the player picked up a nasty ankle issue that could be significantly worse than first thought.
Recent reports also revealed Rojo was expected to be out of action for around one month after he dislocated his shoulder in training. The defender missed four weeks of last season after suffering the same problem during the derby against Manchester City."The injury of Wayne Rooney is more heavy than we thought, so neither can play. That's it I think," the boss told MUTV. "It's a nasty injury. When we go on it's been getting worse. We have to let him train to make the ankle stronger, that's very important. I cannot say [how long he's out for] because the doctor shall decide that with Wayne. He is training well in the rehabilitation."
"It was already in the media – Rojo has been injured," Van Gaal added. "It's his shoulder, the same as last year, in a training session. It's very unfortunate, also in the position of Luke Shaw so I have a great problem."
Herrera and Jones are yet to play since picking up respective hamstring and ankle problems during the Premier League win over Watford on 21 November. The manager has claimed that the match against the Hammers still comes too early for the duo. Lingard also missed the trip to the King Power Stadium last week but is ready to return to action for the visit of Slaven Bilic's side.
"Jesse Lingard is coming back which is good news. Phil Jones is still injured so we have six injuries," LVG concluded
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