Man Utd hit with major injury blow as Benjamin Sesko faces months out

Benjamin Sesko is reportedly set to remain out of action with injury until at least January. The striker has scarcely featured this season due to a persistent shin problem and is now expected to remain on the sidelines for the next two months.

The continued absence of Sesko comes as a big blow to Michael Carrick as he fights to save his job at Old Trafford. During his interim spell in charge, the Slovenian was a key player and often got United points with goals off the bench.

Despite taking a kick to the shin in an earlier game, he continued finding the back of the net and managed to score in the 3-2 victory over Liverpool.

However, a collision with the advertising boards in that game caused him to miss the remaining fixtures and he is yet to fully recover from the problem.

Sesko has made several appearances this season but has not featured since his second start in the Carabao Cup third round defeat to Brighton in mid-September. In the aftermath of that game, United confirmed that he would undergo tests before a recovery plan was drawn up.

And it seems as though that has been decided with The Athletic claiming investigations into the best course of treatment for Sesko from United's medical team have taken place.

Their report adds that he has been resting and the issue is healing but he needs more time to fully recover. The 23-year-old will also need a period to get his match sharpness back after such a long time out.

Carrick has mostly been deploying Bryan Mbeumo in his absence with Matheus Cunha and even captain Bruno Fernandes starting as the central striker.

Make sure you never miss the latest Manchester United news and opinion by making Manchester Evening News one of your Google preferred sources.

The latter was dropped to the bench for the must-win Premier League game against Bournemouth last Sunday. Despite losing 3-0, Carrick was not sacked with club chiefs deciding he will have the chance to turn things round.

United travel to Chelsea for a lunchtime kick-off this Saturday with Carrick in need of a positive result having only overseen two victories this season.

Though not having Sesko for an extended period is a concern, he could welcome Kobbie Mainoo back into the United squad this weekend with the midfielder returning to training on Wednesday.

The England international has missed the last four games in all competitions with a midfield pivot of Andrey Santos and Carlos Baleba, both signed this past summer, not working.