A difficult season for Manchester United was made worse last week when Lisandro Martinez suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the defeat to Crystal Palace.
Martinez, who missed large parts of last season with serious injuries, will now be sidelined for the remainder of the campaign.
This is a major blow for Ruben Amorim, who was forced to make defensive changes for United’s 2-1 FA Cup win over Leicester City.
Noussair Mazraoui started in a back three alongside Harry Maguire and Leny Yoro.
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On the bench, Ruben Amorim had centre-back options in Matthijs de Ligt and Ayden Heaven but only made three changes.
Alejandro Garnacho, Joshua Zirkzee, and Casemiro were introduced, while Victor Lindelof remained an unused substitute.
Lindelof returned to training in January before United’s Europa League win over Rangers.
However, the Sweden international has only made nine appearances this season and has not played since December 19.
He was forced off in the first half of the Carabao Cup tie against Tottenham and has been sidelined since.
On Monday night, Lindelof took to Instagram to announce he is “back”, hinting at his readiness to feature against Spurs this weekend.
United’s first team was given two days off after progressing to the FA Cup fifth round.
It is a boost for Amorim to have Lindelof available again, as injuries have disrupted his defensive options all season.
Despite links to a summer exit, the Swede will remain at United until the end of the season.
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Martinez’s injury setback means Lindelof could come back into contention for selection.
He still has a lot to prove under Amorim, having played just 46 minutes since the Portuguese coach arrived.
United’s defensive pecking order also includes Jonny Evans, while Amorim is keen to give new signing Heaven opportunities.
With Yoro and Mazraoui unable to play every game, squad rotation may soon become necessary.
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