Eric Bailly, Alex Telles, Paul Pogba, Donny van de Beek, Fred, Marcus Rashford of Manchester United in action during a first team training session at Aon Training Complex on February 04, 2021 in Manchester, England.
Manchester United have been handed an injury boost ahead of their trip to West Brom this weekend with the news that defender Eric Bailly has returned to training and is available to face Albion.
The centre half hasn’t played since the beginning of last month in a win over Fulham after picking up a fresh injury in training and was touch and go for the Everton match last weekend, but ultimately that came too soon for him.
Bailly, by no means a first choice centre half, hasn’t played as much football as he’d have liked this term but his return to training is certainly a boost to Red Devils boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He’ll be without midfielder Paul Pogba once again, though.
“We’ve had a rare opportunity to do a bit of training and recovery because you’ve got Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and not a game until Sunday, so that’s been a rarity for us really,” Solskjaer explained at his pre match press conference.
ℹ️ A key defender could return for the Reds as we head to The Hawthorns on Sunday 👇#MUFC #WBAMUN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 12, 2021
“Paul [Pogba] is out. Eric has been training, which is a boost to us - and he is available. He has trained for a couple of days so he’ll be available for selection. So that’s a positive.
Solskjaer is aiming for a return to winning ways at The Hawthorns this weekend, after his side threw away a victory over Everton at Old Trafford last weekend, but they did progress in the FA Cup by seeing off West Ham in the week.
The meeting with Albion represents an opportunity for United to keep up the pressure on neighbours and league leaders City.
“Of course it’s an important game for us this weekend,” Solskjaer said. “And it’s an important spell. Every game you tick one off and it’s less and less possibility to catch up points on the teams in front of you.
“That’s what we want to do and that’s what we’re here to do. Sunday is a big one for us in that respect, to get back to winning ways.”
