MANCHESTER UNITED’S defensive woes continued as Eric Bailly was injured on international duty with the Ivory Coast.
The centre-back suffered a hamstring blow and is now a doubt for United’s Premier League clash with Newcastle on October 17.
Eric Bailly was seen clutching his hamstring before being replaced while playing for the Ivory CoastCredit: RT1
Bailly was seen clutching the back of his right leg in the 1-1 friendly draw against Belgium on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old hobbled off after 70 minutes having worryingly gone down off the ball.
He had started the game – along with Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha – on the right of a back three.
However, the defender took to Instagram to reassure worried United fans that it was a case of ‘fatigue’.
On his story, he wrote: “Thank you for worrying about me, but I’m doing well. Just fatigue.
“Goodnight to you all and God protect us. Congratulations to my team for the match against the first ranked team.”
Bailly had regained a starting spot alongside Red Devils skipper Harry Maguire before the international break.
But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s defensive duo flopped in the humiliating 6-1 defeat against Spurs at Old Trafford last weekend.
The two exchanged sloppy headers before Maguire hauled down team-mate Luke Shaw in the build-up to Tanguy Ndombele bagging Spurs’ first goal in the rout.
The Norwegian boss had decided to replace Swede Victor Lindelof with Bailly in his starting XI.
But the injury-prone defender could miss out on a run in the side if he fails to recover.
Bailly has been continually plagued with knee and ankle problems since arriving at Old Trafford from Villarreal in 2016.
United will assess his condition upon his return to Carrington.
Man Utd boss Solskjaer confirms that Eric Bailly fit again to play
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
