Manchester United have confirmed they expect to be without key midfielder Kobbie Mainoo for the next few games due to an ongoing injury concern.

Mainoo was withdrawn five minutes before the end of United’s 0-0 draw against Aston Villa before the international break. He then pulled out of the England squad for the games against Greece and Finland as a “precaution”, but his problem has now been revealed to be more serious.

The 19-year-old had earlier also been forced off with injury in the first half of the 3-0 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last month, sitting out the subsequent clash with Porto.

Ahead of facing Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday, United have confirmed that Mainoo will be sidelined for “a few weeks” with a muscle injury. No more precise timeframe has been given. Centre-back Harry Maguire is in a similar boat after also suffering a muscle injury against Villa.

Mainoo has started every Premier League game for United so far this season, underlining his importance to the team following his breakthrough last November and meteoric rise.

Between now and the November international break in four weeks, Erik ten Hag’s side have seven games across three competitions. Starting with Brentford this weekend, attention turns to the Europa League with a lengthy round trip to Istanbul to face Fenerbahce. Then it is West Ham United at the London Stadium on 27 October, followed by Leicester City in the Carabao Cup three days later.

Chelsea visit Old Trafford on 3 November, with Greek side PAOK coming on 7 November and Leicester, this time in the Premier League, three days after that.

Ten Hag must look to other midfield options in the short-term, with Christian Eriksen likely to partner Casemiro against Brentford. Manuel Ugarte has been out of favour since a difficult full United debut against Tottenham, and only took part in a recovery session at training on Thursday. Mason Mount also continues to be unavailable as a result of the head injury he suffered against Spurs.

As a major positive, right-back Noussair Mazraoui trained on Thursday, having recently undergone a minor heart procedure after experiencing palpitations during the Aston Villa draw.

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