Ole Gunnar Solskjaer reveals Luke Shaw will miss Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final with Chelsea

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed Luke Shaw has been ruled out of his side’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Chelsea on Sunday.

Shaw picked up an ankle injury during United’s 1-1 draw against Southampton last week and his replacement, Brandon Williams, then suffered a head injury.

Both defenders missed Thursday’s win over Crystal Palace, which saw Timothy Fosu-Mensah deputise at left-back but Solskjaer hopes Williams could return.

Luke Shaw has been ruled out of Manchester United’s FA Cup semi-final clash against Chelsea

United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes Brandon Williams will be fit enough to deputise

Sergio Romero has started United’s FA Cup games but Solskjaer suggested he could miss out 

‘Luke will be out,’ Solskjaer told ManUnited.com. ‘I can’t see him recovering. Brandon will hopefully be okay, he’ll try to join in training today with his eye. We’ll see if he can see the ball when he comes in! He should be fine.’ 

Prior to those injuries, United played the same starting XI in five consecutive fixtures but Solskjaer has rejected the notion his players could suffer fatigue amid a crammed fixture list.

‘I’d rather have this game than not have it. We can’t say it [the scheduling] has been unkind, it is what it is and, when you get the opportunity to play a semi-final, you’ll squeeze that in even if you have to play on the same day.’

Timothy Fosu-Mensah is likely to start again at left-back if Williams isn’t fit enough to return

Sergio Romero has featured in all of United’s FA Cup games this season, but Solskjaer hinted he may not retain his place for the clash at Wembley.

But the Norwegian hinted Jesse Lingard could feature after coming on as a substituted during second half of Thursday’s win over Palace.

‘The team is not selected yet and that goes both for Jesse and Sergio,’ insisted the manager later, in his press conference. ‘They’ve got a good chance of being involved, so we’ll make a decision on that later on.’ 

United will be confident of overcoming Chelsea having beaten Frank Lampard’s side three times this season in the Premier League and FA Cup.