• Premier League

Van Gaal: United injury woes easing

Louis van Gaal says the worst injury crisis of his managerial career is receding, with just four Manchester United now on the treatment table.

However, the Dutchman said he was unsure how many of the six players who have returned to fitness would be available to face West Bromwich Albion on Monday and is considering asking Ander Herrera to wear a corset in order to play.

United's defensive troubles are easing, with Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Jonny Evans all back in contention, while midfielders Michael Carrick and Ashley Young have also returned to training.

'Players are coming round to my ways'

Louis van Gaal says his players need to step-up on the pitch © Getty Images

• Louis van Gaal believes Manchester United's players are finally starting to understand his philosophy and now have confidence in him.
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United did not pick up any further injuries during the international break, but Van Gaal has not yet determined his 11 for the match at The Hawthorns.

Carrick has yet to feature under Van Gaal after undergoing ankle surgery in the summer, and the manager told MUTV: "Maybe we [will] use him on the bench. Herrera is a fit player. He had only a rib fracture. He can play with a corset."

He added in his news conference: "We have only four players injured now, so that is good. We have no problems with the international players, but also a lot of players are coming back so this morning in this [training] session we didn't need any player of the second team [to join in] so I was very happy."

Centre-back Paddy McNair has been ruled out but should be available again for next week's game against Chelsea.

Both West Brom and United have won three of their last four matches, and Van Gaal said: "I think West Bromwich Albion is very difficult to beat, especially there in their home.

"They play not only long balls, they can also play a positional game so I think it is a dangerous opponent. They are difficult to beat, but there is no club in the Premier League that is easy to beat. That is the difference with other leagues."

United have yet to win away from home under Van Gaal, losing 4-0 to MK Dons in the League Cup and 5-3 to Leicester in the Premier League as well as drawing with Sunderland and Burnley.

Van Gaal said: "We played very good at Leicester City but we gave it away also by certain circumstances. You can remember that. The other matches, we played two draws and could have won both matches.

"We were the better team, we created chances and we didn't score. We have to wait and see if that tendency is going through."

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