Manchester United’s Benjamin Sesko and Patrick Dorgu will be unavailable through injury for Saturday’s match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Sesko did not feature in United’s last game before the international break against Fulham after a recurrence of the shin injury that ruled the striker out of pre-season, and withdrew from international duty with Slovenia.
“Ben’s a little bit further away with the issue he’s got, so he won’t be ready,” Carrick said on Friday.
Dorgu, who has featured as both a left-back and left winger for United this season, was substituted in the 30th minute of Denmark’s 2-0 win over Wales and it was confirmed that he had returned to the club.
“Patrick came off and it looks like he’ll be out for probably a number of weeks,” Carrick said.
Noussair Mazraoui was also withdrawn injured in Morocco’s win over Lesotho. “Nous came off and took a knock. He’s not quite right yet, so we’ll have to see how he is,” Carrick said.
Carlos Baleba, who has not featured through injury since signing in a deal worth up to £70million from Brighton & Hove Albion in the summer, played in a behind-closed-doors friendly last week as he nears a competitive debut. Marcus Rashford and Kobbie Mainoo both withdrew from England duty with injuries. Forward Amad is also yet to feature this season.
“Carlos is improving, he’s trained a lot, he’s improving,” Carrick said. “Amad’s done a little bit of training, Marcus has done a little bit of training, Kobbie’s done a little bit of training.”
What will the impact be?
Sesko’s continued unavailability will be a huge source of frustration to the forward, who spoke after the Champions League game against Sabah about having been patient with his return timeline, and his hopes for the season.
It is a major loss for United: none of their other attacking options provide the same profile as Sesko in terms of aerial presence, stretching opposition defences and occupying centre-backs. Matheus Cunha has been deputising up front this season as Sesko’s return has been managed, but it is not his best position.
Carrick will need to weigh the different options, which could include Bryan Mbeumo taking up a central role (as was often the case under Carrick last season) once Amad is available to play on the right.
Dorgu’s injury places even more importance on the availability of Luke Shaw. The Denmark international has featured as both a left-winger and left-back in the opening games of the season, but United are far better stocked in the former with Rashford and Cunha both options; the only other left-back in the squad, besides Dorgu and Shaw, is 19-year-old Harry Amass.
The decision not to recruit at left-back in summer was scrutinised by fans at the time, and has already reared its head when Shaw missed the Manchester derby. The knock to Mazraoui, if it turns out to rule him out for a period of time, is a further blow to the depth at full-back. Dorgu might not have been first-choice, but is valuable cover for Carrick and his absence is ill-timed as United face down a stretch of six games across the Premier League and Champions League in October.