DREAD DEVILS
Rio Ferdinand fears Man Utd’s season could be ‘derailed’ by injury blow that risks ‘killing’ top four hopes
Ten Hag has issued an update on the defender's injury
MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand has shared his fears over Lisandro Martinez's latest injury setback.
The Red Devils cruised to a 3-0 win over West Ham on Sunday thanks to goals from Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho.
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However, the occasion was marred when Erik ten Hag revealed that Martinez had suffered a "very bad" injury.
Martinez was forced off with a knee injury during the second half after attempting a challenge on Vladimir Coufal.
The defender had been limited to just nine appearances this season before Sunday's game due to a foot injury.
And now it has emerged that Martinez won't be back until after the international break in mid-March.
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Journalist is reporting it is NOT an ACL injury, but that he has sprained his collateral ligament.
That means he is set to miss Premier League games against Aston Villa, Luton, Fulham, Manchester City, Everton and Sheffield United, as well as their FA Cup fifth round clash with Nottingham Forest or Bristol City.
And Ferdinand fears that another spell on the sidelines could be disastrous for Man Utd.
Speaking on his podcast before the injury update was revealed, the former England international said: "He got a little injury. He done his knee. I see he tweaked it.
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"I think that looks like ligaments, man. He tried to carry on and then said, 'No, no, no I’ve got to go'.
"So, listen, if he’s out, it kills it. You can see with him and Luke Shaw on that side, when they’re together, they look so dominant, they look so confident, they look so composed with the ball.
"And those two are really good with the ball in terms of setting up attacks, the ball generally comes from that side. Any of the good stuff we do, Martinez, even you see for the first goal, he clips it in.
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"Yes it goes to [Kurt] Zouma and he heads it down and Casemiro intercepts and we get the goal off that, but it’s because Martinez is playing forward, he’s playing forceful passes.
"So that will be disappointing. We’ve had so many injuries and he’s one of them that’s been out of a while and he’s probably one of our most influential players."
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Ten Hag said after the game that "we can only pray" regarding the injury.
He does now have Harry Maguire back, with the England man starting against West Ham on Saturday.
United face Villa away on Sunday in a huge clash in the race for the top four.
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