• Premier League

Herrera close to United return, says Van Gaal

Ander Herrera could be set to make his Manchester United comeback against Stoke on New Year's Day.

Herrera has sat out United's past three games with a muscle injury but manager Louis van Gaal believes the midfielder may be able to feature at the Britannia Stadium on Thursday.

Rojo aiming for quick return

• Marcos Rojo says he is targeting a quick return from injury in the New Year in order to boost Manchester United's options over a busy period of fixtures.
• Rojo has missed four United matches since suffering a thigh injury in their 2-1 victory at Southampton on December 8.
• The defender told United Review:"I've had the misfortune to get injured recently and I really don't like it. It's terrible to miss training and be out of the team. I just hope I can regain my full fitness quickly and it doesn't happen again, as it's never good being injured.
• "Certainly there are a lot of games coming quickly, one after another. That's what I want, to get fit as quickly as possible so I can lend a hand to the team.
• "The manager is going to want as many players as possible for this busy period. It's an important part of the season with so many games in quick succession."
• United travel to Stoke City on New Year's Day before a trip to Yeovil in the FA Cup third round.

Van Gaal told MUTV: "We still have four injuries, and Marouane Fellaini is ill. Angel Di Maria, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Ander Herrera are currently out."

However, he added: "Ander will be coming back this week."

The Dutchman delivered a further injury boost for United by declaring that the three players he took off in Sunday's 0-0 draw at Tottenham will not be sidelined.

Antonio Valencia was replaced at half-time while both Paddy McNair and Jonny Evans came off in the final 20 minutes.

The United manager told MUTV: "I made the changes because of tiredness, not because players weren't playing well. I had to make changes, and could have made more because the strikers were on their last legs.

Following his side's failure to put pressure on the Premier League's title contenders, Van Gaal took aim at division's hectic fixture scheduling over the Christmas period.

Van Gaal believes his players were suffering from fatigue, although Phil Jones did not want to hide behind any excuses.

"I think fatigue is always going to kick in with two games in three days but it's the same for every club in the Premier League," Jones told MUTV. "You have to do it, we have done it, and now we look forward to the game against Stoke on Thursday.

"We created numerous chances in the first half and perhaps should have been three or four nil up at half-time, but it wasn't to be. In the second half they came out and pushed us to the end. We knew that would happen, but we stayed resilient and we kept a clean sheet."

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