Ruben Amorim worried Bruno Fernandes’ injury will rule him out for ‘a while’

By Simon Peach, Press Association Chief Football Writer

Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim fears Bruno Fernandes will be out for “a while” after picking up a soft tissue injury in Sunday’s defeat at Aston Villa.

The ever-dependable 31-year-old has started every Premier League game this season, but the Red Devils star now faces a spell on the sidelines.

Fernandes initially played on after pulling up with a what appeared to be hamstring issue just before the break, but the United skipper did not return for the second half of the 2-1 defeat to in-form Villa.

Amorim told Sky Sports he thinks “it’s soft tissue so it’s going to be a while”, ruling the Portugal international out of the Boxing Day clash against Newcastle and beyond.

“I don’t know (the severity),” the United boss said in the press conference. “It’s a soft tissue. I think he’s going to lose some games. I don’t know for sure, so let’s see.

“You never control these things, so we’ll see. He is a guy who is always fit so he can recover quite well, but I don’t know.”

Fernandes’ injury compounded the absence of homegrown talent Kobbie Mainoo.

The 20-year-old dominated the build-up to Sunday’s trip to Villa Park after his half-brother wore a ‘Free Kobbie Mainoo’ t-shirt to Monday’s chaotic 4-4 draw with Bournemouth at Old Trafford.

Mainoo picked up a calf complaint in training on the eve of the game and will seemingly be unable to make his first Premier League start of the season against Newcastle.

“I will see what we are going to do,” Amorim said of his midfield.

“I think Kobbie Mainoo is out, Bruno is out, so we will see. We are going to find solutions. No excuses.

“We need to win the next game and we will try to win the next game.”

While Casemiro will return from suspension against Newcastle, Bryan Mbeumo, Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui are at the Africa Cup of Nations and Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire have missed recent games.

United are now dealing with injuries to Fernandes and Mainoo, raising questions about the potential to bring in help during the January transfer window.

“We need to deal with that,” Amorim said. “What we cannot do is to reach January and try to do everything in urgency and make mistakes and then ‘here we go again’ with a lot of mistakes.

“I’m not going to get with Jason (Wilcox, director of football) and Omar (Berrada, chief executive) and going to say ‘we need a lot of players’ because we have a plan.

“If we have to suffer, the club comes first. Of course, we are in a moment where we need points, but we need to find solutions and we are going to continue with our plan.”