Manchester United will be without their inform goalscorer Daniel James on Thursday night as they face Astana in the Europa League as the winger is recovering from an injury.
United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that the Wales international suffered a “knock” against Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester City at the weekend and would sit out Thursday’s Europa League game at Old Trafford.
The 21-year-old summer arrival James skipped United’s final training session before the Group L fixture and joins Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw on Solskjaer’s injury list.
English midfielder Jesse Lingard and defender Diogo Dalot are ready to return from illness and a hip problem respectively as the Norwegian confirmed in his pre-match press conference.
The 46-year-old confirmed that James will not be available when asked about the United top scorer, “He got a knock against Leicester so he won’t be available, We’re getting some back and losing some, so that’s just the way it is.”
However, Solskjaer admitted that he is glad about the way James has been performing at Manchester United since his arrival from Swansea City in the summer transfer window, “Delighted with Dan that we signed him, that we managed to get him to Manchester is fantastic. He’s proven with his X-factor already that he will give this squad a lot. I know he was very close [to Leeds], but that’s football. Sometimes you have to take a chance and sometimes life works in different ways, in strange ways. He’s started really well here”
