By Tom Gott
Manchester United have confirmed that centre-back Harry Maguire is expected to miss the remainder of the Premier League season after suffering a muscle injury in training.
Centre-back has been an area of major concern for Erik ten Hag recently, with Maguire the only natural option for the position over the past few weeks while Lisandro Martinez, Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans and Willy Kambwala all nurse injuries.
Ten Hag's headache has now worsened after United confirmed Maguire will need three weeks to recover from a muscle injury which, given its timing, will bring his Premier League season to an end.
Maguire is expected to be fit for England's European Championship adventure this summer but faces a race against time to recover before the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25 - 20 days after his injury was revealed.
In the short term, however, Ten Hag faces a huge problem as he could be without a single senior centre-back for Monday's clash with Crystal Palace.
Evans is back in training but whether he is fit enough to play significant minutes remains to be seen, while there have been no further updates on any of Martinez, Varane, Lindelof or Kambwala.
Casemiro has dropped into the back line to help out recently but Ten Hag may have to get creative if he needs another option.
18-year-old Louis Jackson, a natural centre-back, made the bench last time out against Burnley and would appear to be an obvious candidate for a promotion if Ten Hag finds himself needing to make up the numbers against Palace.
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This article was originally published on 90min.com as Man Utd suffer another injury blow as centre-back ruled out for remainder of season.
