Manchester United defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka has suffered a setback in his attempted recovery from injury. Wan-Bissaka has missed the last three games with an unspecified injury as a precaution and he attempted to train on Thursday but had to withdraw from the session.
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Tyrell Malacia (knee) and Mason Mount (calf) are still unavailable for United as they prepare to take on fourth-placed Aston Villa away from home on Sunday. Centre half Lisandro Martinez is expected to be sidelined for eight weeks with a medial collateral ligament injury and United manager Erik ten Hag could start Raphael Varane and Harry Maguire in a Premier League match for the first time.
"Yeah, it's a setback of course, Licha just returning," Ten Hag acknowledged. "You see his contribution to the team when he's playing. Apart from his technical skills, he also bring mentality in the team but it's a big setback for Licha. "He's very disappointed about it but he's a fighter. He will be back and he will be stronger. We think he can be back by the end of the season, still games to play. As a squad, we have to replace him and we have very good players in that position who can play there, will play there and will perform there. As a squad, we have to deal with it.
Martinez sustained the knee injury in the 66th minute of United's 3-0 win against West Ham last week but he attempted to continue playing until he was substituted in the 71st minute. Ten Hag denied the suggestion that Martinez had exacerbated his injury by heading back onto the pitch. "I don’t think so but it was Lisandro's and he was not comfortable to be back on the pitch but after he tried and then he stopped in the next attack.
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Centre halves Varane, Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are all expected to be in the squad against Villa while Luke Shaw excelled at centre back last season. Ten Hag prefers a right-footed and a left-footed partnership in defence but Malacia's long-term absence is likely to mean Shaw continues at left-back. "It's an advantage [to have a left-footer], we have seen but we have to work on players. Players can also develop in such positions when you work with them, coach with them and train them. I see our players in the back line make better decisions, I see that they develop their skills in building up. I'm quite confident we can keep this process of better ball-playing from the back going."
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