Casemiro faces a race against time to be fit for the Manchester derby at Old Trafford on Sunday, Erik ten Hag has revealed.
The Manchester United midfielder was hurt playing for Brazil against Venezuela earlier this month but still appeared in the second game of the international break against Uruguay.
United allowed Casemiro to recover in South America and miss last weekend’s win at Sheffield United, not least because he was already suspended for the Champions League tie against FC Copenhagen in midweek.
But the 31-year-old trained with the rest of the squad on Monday and was expected to be fit to face Manchester City. However, Ten Hag cast doubt over his chances, saying: ‘Casa is a race against the clock, he’s not 100 per cent.’
The United boss confirmed Mail Sport’s report that Aaron Wan-Bissaka has returned to full training after six weeks on the sidelines.
Erik ten Hag has confirmed Casemiro may not be fit for Sunday’s derby with Manchester City
Casemiro (right) has trained this week but Ten Hag said he ‘isn’t 100 per cent’ back to fitness
Ten Hag would ideally have such an important big game player fit and available for the derby
The right-back has been missing since September 16 after sustaining a hamstring injury in the closing stages of United’s home loss to Brighton, but could be available again in the next 10 days.
At his pre-match press conference at Carrington, Ten Hag was again asked about Marcus Rashford’s dip in form after last season’s 30-goal top scorer found the net just once in 12 games for his club this season.
‘Give him the trust and play him every game,’ said Ten Hag. ‘Most of the games he finishes every game, so I have a strong belief he will return to scoring a lot of goals.
‘We showed this week from some examples where we were in overload positions and going to the opponent’s goal, and we don’t net or even hit the target and we should do better. We don’t have time to train but we give some coaching.
‘I am convinced that the qualities of our players they will score more goals.’
