Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful Harry Maguire will be fit to face Norwich City on Saturday, allaying fears that the world’s most expensive defender was set for a spell on the sidelines.
Maguire was badly missed as United crumbled to Manchester City in a 1-3 League Cup semi-final, first leg defeat on Tuesday, but his hip injury is not as bad as first feared.
The man signed for $105 million from Leicester in August has not had the transformative impact on Solskjaer’s defence that United hoped for, but the importance of his presence was laid bare as City cut open a centre-back pairing of Victor Lindelof and Phil Jones with ease in midweek.
“Harry has a chance for Saturday,” Solskjaer said at his pre-match media conference on Friday. “It is only a minor thing. He will go through training and see how he reacts.”
Maguire has played every minute of United’s league campaign so far and has even worn the armband on multiple occasions with club captain Ashley Young reduced to a peripheral role since the arrival of right-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
“It’s not a surprise because he’s a warrior and he wants to play,” added Solskjaer as Maguire aims to shrug off the problem he picked up in a 0-0 draw at Wolves in the FA Cup third round last weekend.
“If it’s only a minor problem, he will put himself up to play and that’s what he did against Wolves.
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“At half-time, he said he was feeling a little discomfort but he was adamant he was going to be fine. He was close to playing against City, just not quite good enough, but he has a chance now.”
Ralph warns Leicester
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl has hailed his squad’s mentality and character for how they bounced back from October’s 0-9 humbling by Leicester City that threatened to derail their Premier League campaign.
However, Southampton have tightened up considerably since that humiliation, conceding only 13 goals in 11 games, and have moved up to 12th in the standings ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leicester.
“We had a moment we will never forget,” Hasenhuettl told reporters.
