Man Utd boss reveals date he expects long-term absentee to return

Manchester United women’s head coach Marc Skinner has given fans an update on the expected return date of defender Aoife Mannion.

The defender has been absent since March after suffering a anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury but the United boss confirmed she could be back amongst the squad as early as this weekend in the club’s Continental Cup game against Sheffield United on Sunday. Mannion joined the club from rivals Manchester City in the summer of 2021 and was a regular feature in the United defence before suffering the second ACL injury of her career after just 19 appearances, though it has been reported she has made solid progress over the past couple of weeks in her bid to return to the squad.

The centre-back was expected to play for the Man Utd Academy side against Leicester City this afternoon, though the Skinner conceded he ultimately decided against that. He did assure fans though that her return is just around the corner.

“She was going to play today, I think the game was going to be on 3G, so we didn’t take that risk before Christmas. There was no need. She has trained with the group today so there’s a possibility she could be on the bench on Sunday. I wouldn’t bring her into the game, it would just be to get her back involved with the team and so on.

“New year was always going to be when we brought Aoife back in and what we were looking for with those fixtures coming up. It may be the case, we just have to watch and look at where we are as a team come Friday or Saturday this week”.

However, with United already out of the League Cup, Skinner did hint that some of the younger stars could be given an opportunity against the Blades.

“Alyssa Aherne would definitely be one of those in contention. She has been very good all year. She had a little knock but has come back and trained with the group today and I thought she was excellent” he said.

“If we do decide to give the younger players exposure, she is definitely one we would look to give exposure to in this moment. Jess Simpson would have been one too if she hadn’t picked up her injury. Saf (Safia Middleton-Patel) would be as well. Ella Kinzett and Keira Barry have been doing well so there’s a lot of players that fit into that mould of ones we are looking at coming into the new year”.

And while Sunday’s match up is effectively a dead rubber, Skinner believes the performance levels of those that feature will have a key bearing on how successful his side are in the second half of the campaign.

“Regardless of whether we can progress in this moment, for future success we have to put all of our energy into putting a really good performance on and making sure we show professionalism in every moment we get on the field.”

United face Championship side Sheffield United this Sunday in their final Continental Cup group game, with kick off scheduled for 12pm at Leigh Sports Village.