Lisandro Martinez: Man Utd confirm extent of injury v West Ham and when defender could return

Manchester United have confirmed Lisandro Martinez is set to be out for at least eight weeks with a knee injury.

The defender was replaced in the 71st minute of Sunday's 3-0 win over West Ham United following a coming together with Vladimir Coufal. Martinez dropped to the turf and immediately signalled he was in discomfort, and after trying to continue, was withdrawn soon after.

Erik ten Hag described the injury as 'serious' and a 'personal disaster' after Sunday's game, before United confirmed on Monday that the prognosis isn't as bad as initially feared.

"Lisandro Martinez has sustained an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his knee and is expected to be out of action for at least 8 weeks," the club announced. "We all wish Licha a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back on the pitch later in the season."

For Martinez it's a huge blow in a campaign that has already been heavily impacted by injury. The centre-back had only recently returned from a four-month layoff with a foot injury, that saw him miss 18 matches from mid-September. As a result, the 26-year-old has been limited to just 10 appearances this term.

"He is very sad, very disappointed. We all feel really with him. First of all it is a personal disaster when it is really bad, but also for the team it is really bad because he definitely brings us a lot," Ten Hag said after Sunday's game.

The injury, which will not require surgery, means Martinez is expected to return to the team in April and could be available for the final weeks of the campaign. In his absence, Ten Hag is expected to choose between Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans at the heart of defence, although none of the quartet offer a left-footed option as the United prefers in the position.