Manchester United have another injury concern to contend with after Martin Dubravka pulled out of international duty with Slovakia.
The goalkeeper, 33, joined the Red Devils from Newcastle this summer in a £2million loan deal which will become permanent for £6m depending on how many appearances he makes this season. He is yet to make his debut for Erik ten Hag's side and was surprisingly left out of the squad which defeated Sheriff Tiraspol 2-0 in the Europa League last week.
It is not known whether Dubravka's omission was due to injury, and he was able to join up with his international teammates earlier this week. However, his time with the Slovakia set-up has been short-lived as he suffered an injury in training and will return to United's Carrington base to undergo further assessment.
Dubravka started all three of his nation's fixtures at Euro 2020 last summer and his latest setback rules him out of their Nations League games against Azerbaijan on Thursday and Belarus on Sunday. It could also leave Ten Hag short of options between the posts by the time the international break ends and United travel to local rivals and defending Premier League champions Manchester City.
David de Gea started against Sheriff and Tom Heaton was his experienced back-up on the substitutes' bench, while 18-year-old Radek Vitek was also handed a spot in the squad in Dubravka's absence. Ten Hag's other injury concerns relate to Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek, Brandon Williams and Facundo Pellistri.
Rashford could return to action in the Manchester derby after suffering a thigh injury during the 3-1 victory over Arsenal in early September. There is more uncertainty surrounding fellow forward Martial, who is continuing to grapple with an achilles complaint which has kept him in the physio room since August.
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Winger Pellistri is also recovering from a foot injury, while Van de Beek is expected to shake off a knock by the time the Premier League returns in just over one week's time, with United travelling to the Etihad in the earlier of Sunday 2 October's two games. The Red Devils head into their clash against City in fine form, winning their last four domestic games before the Queen's death led to the postponement of fixtures against Crystal Palace and Leeds.
This run of victories marks a significant recovery after Ten Hag's side were beaten 2-1 by Brighton and thrashed 4-0 by Brentford in their opening two league games. Meanwhile, on the continental stage, United recovered from their 1-0 loss at home to Real Sociedad by picking up their first Europa League points with the victory over Sheriff.
