MANCHESTER UNITED youngster Dan Gore has returned to the club just two weeks after going out on loan.
Gore, 20, had been sent to join Steven Evans’ Rotherham.
The midfielder made his debut against Birmingham and looked sharp as he came off the bench to provide an assist.
He had then been set to feature in their next match against Shrewsbury on February 8.
However, Gore spoke to doctors the night before the match to indicate he had picked up a foot injury.
Rotherham went on to lose the tie 2-1, and Evans was stunned by his abrupt absence and made no secret of those feelings post-match.
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He had said: “He worked for two days in the team and went home from training on Friday feeling good.
“I got a call from the medical staff to say that he’d woken up with his foot really sore.
“It’s unbelievable. We didn’t do enough in training for him to have a sore nose let alone a sore foot. He sat there afterwards having lunch with the boys and had a rub and got prepared.
“Until I hear more from the medical staff as to how it’s happened and why it’s happened then it’s… maybe God will tell me when I go to sleep tonight.”
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Gore, who only made one appearance on loan at Port Vale last season after being riddled with injury, is believed to have suffered a hairline foot fracture during training.
The injury is set to sideline him for around one month.
He has subsequently been sent back to Man Utd to be rehabilitated before he will return to Rotherham once he is deemed fit enough.
On Gore returning to his parent club, Evans said: “I think that they have four full-time doctors and eight physios tells you where he should be.
“We’ve done that with other loan players in the past. Their progress is quicker because they have more medical back-up on hand. He’s in a good place there.
“The medical people say you can have a delayed reaction to it. It’s unusual for that to happen but it can happen. We have to accept that.
“I saw how much the kid was hurting when he heard he was going to be out for that four-week period or so. The reaction was genuine, he wants to play. I’m an experienced manager.
“You get a gut feeling about these things. He’s at the stage where – in the words of the coaching staff at Manchester United – he needs to be playing.”
Rotherham have since drawn 0-0 with Blackpool and lost 2-1 to Reading, leaving them 14th in the League One table with their next game being at home to Barnsley.
Man Utd ratings v Spurs
MANCHESTER UNITED slipped to a 12th defeat in the Premier League with Rasmus Hojlund coming under fire again.
Here’s how SunSport’s Katherine Walsh rated the Manchester United players against an underachieving Spurs side – who are now three places above them in 12th – in North London.
Andre Onana – 3
United can’t do anything with him between the sticks. Can’t be trusted to collect anything.
His opposite number Vicario showed him a thing or two after returning for the first time since Spurs thrashed Man City in November.
At fault for the first goal when he palmed out a relatively weak bouncing shot into Maddison’s path in the 13th minute.
Noussair Mazraoui – 5
An OK performance. Clever link-up play with Zirkzee but couldn’t get hold of Spence down the left-hand side.
Pulled out an excellent cross for the Dutchman’s headed chance late-on.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6
His clearance stopped an obvious 2-0 before the half-an-hour mark.
Harry Maguire – 5
A mixed bag. Long ball over the top for Hojlund’s chance in opening 10 minutes and went on a few attacking runs himself in the first half.
Did well to stop Dejan Kulusevski from having a go at the edge of the box. But bizarrely stopped in his tracks when a cross came flying into Son later on.
Diogo Dalot – 6
A difficult afternoon for the Portugal international as Son and Djed Spence left him for dead a few times.
Hesitated when asked to shoot from five yards to make it 1-0 but helped Onana out with some clearances too.
Patrick Dorgu – 4
A Prem debut to forget. He was almost invisible from the left-hand side. And lacked quality when asked to get involved more in the second half.
Was stupidly caught offside with Bruno Fernandes offloading a stunning cross pitch pass and booked late-on.
Casemiro – 5
Looked every bit a player that hasn’t played Premier League football for two months. Unsurprisingly booked for a late one on Son.
Bizarrely dropped to the turf asking for a free-kick when nobody touched him. Was forced to play 89 minutes with eight teenagers on the bench. A difficult afternoon, indeed.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Interceptions and breaking up play is not a part of the captain’s game. An uncharacteristically poor cross left United open on the counter.
Did get back to stop Son from having a shot at Onana on the hour mark and started ticking in attack in the final 20 minutes.
Alejandro Garnacho – 4
Looked shaky and cut a frustrated figure after blazing over an absolute SITTER from 10 yards to level the scores.
A bit of a shocker and looked a completely different player to the one who got United into the fifth-round of the FA Cup last week.
Woke up a bit in the second half as Vicario kept him at bay with several superb stops. But the 20-year-old is clearly better off the bench.
Joshua Zirkzee – 6
The best of a desperately poor front three. There’s a street player in there and he’s great with his touches at times.
But curled wide from 23 yards, stuck a header wide in the 70th minute and kicked an air shot in the final five minutes.
Rasmus Hojlund – 3
Is Hojlund the worst No 9 in United’s recent history?
The young Dane, who was unlucky to have a chance saved by Vicario, was second best in every loose ball and kept losing possession.
He was even caught offside after a pass from an Onana goal-kick in the first half – how often do you see that happen?
According to the Daily Mail, Evans’ comments about Gore are said to have “raised eyebrows” at Old Trafford.
Club chiefs are monitoring the situation amid after putting a lot of work into what they believed would be a “good landing ground” for Gore.
Gore joined the Red Devils academy in 2018 from Burnley.
He made his senior team debut in the League Cup against Crystal Palace in September 2023 before making his Premier League debut against Aston Villa three months later.
Ralf Rangnick invited him to train with the first team before he was named United Reserve Team Player of the Year for the 2022/23 season.
Gore is recognised as a bright talent due to his tenacity, technical ability and unwavering determination.
But his combative side has led to a few flare-ups in the past.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Gore infamously had a training ground scrap with Anthony Martial in November 2022 when much of the senior squad was away for the 2022 World Cup.
It had come after he had clattered into the Frenchman despite Erik ten Hag saying first-team tackling was off-limits.
Martial lost his temper after being sent tumbling and the pair had to be pulled apart by team-mates.
He later apologised to the youngster, but Gore was given a stern warning by Ten Hag about his aggression.
With Ruben Amorim calling up a host of youngsters for Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Tottenham, Gore may have counted himself unlucky to not be there.
Amorim had personally gone to watch the Man Utd Under-21s as they beat Southampton 5-1 in December.
Two goals from Jack Moorhouse were bolstered by strikes from Tyler Fletcher, Ethan Wheatley and Gore.
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Moorhouse was one of the seven academy stars selected on the bench for the visit to North London with 12 senior team stars sidelined through illness or injury.
However, only Chido Obi made it onto the pitch in injury time, a move which bitterly disappointed fans.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
