Man Utd boss gives Miyazawa injury update as he makes defender Barcelona comparison

Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has revealed two of key summer signings will miss this weekend's clash with Tottenham Hotspur.

Hinata Miyazawa was seen limping out of Japan's win over Brazil during last week and the United head coach has revealed how long he expects the player to be missing for the Red Devils.

"Hini (Miyazawa) is going to probably be out until after Christmas. We are waiting on an assessment, it looks like she will miss these three games. Once we have the assessment, we'll let people know. We'll probably confirm that in the next press conferences once this assessment is done. She is definitely out till after Christmas" said Skinner.

Skinner was also able to give fans the most recent update on Spanish midfield star Irene Guerrero, who has been missing for several weeks after picking up a knock against Everton recently.

"Iri (Irene Guerrero) is likely to miss these three games and be back after Christmas" explained the head coach.

"Apart from that, everyone has reported back okay but we have got them back in for the first time today, so we will update as we go. But Hini and Iri will be both out for these games coming up" added Skinner.

The 40-year-old boss has saw a number of his summer signings pick up injuries since their arrival with Emma Watson, Gabby George (both ACL) and Evie Rabjohn (foot) joining Miyazawa and Guerrero in the treatment room.

Despite the injuries though, Skinner says he has zero concerns, saying: "In the reality, Emma's was a ACL in (international) camp, Hini's was on camp. There's obviously an increase in games which we knew was an issue.

"These are impacts one so there's little you can do. Gabby's was probably a squad depth thing, where we probably didn't have enough rotation at the time. But also, it was a non impact one and an ACL from that one. Those are difficult.

"What you can look to manage is muscle injuries and soft tissue injuries. If you get those, you have to look at your training parts. We don't tend to have those as we adapt and evolve. Most of them are big injuries and impact, there's not much you can do about that.

"When they come in, you expect a level of fitness and they've all produced. There's also a luck thing. As lucky as we were probably last year, I can't bemoan the fact we have injuries and I don't want to do that. It's not ideal but when do we ever work in the ideal?" said Skinner.

The United boss also set aside praise for Jayde Riviere in his pre-match press conference as the players approaches her first year at the club.

"We always knew that she had the quality. If I could design how I want a footballer to move it would be Jayde Riviere's profile. She's very, very similar in that guise to Ona Batlle.

"She move accelerations quick, her agility is excellent, her speed is excellent. With Jayde, it has just taken a little bit of time. She has a really good attitude to learning. She's a really mature girl for her age" explained the head coach.

Manchester United face a trip to Tottenham Hotspur this week as they look to clamber back a seven point gap to leaders Chelsea, who have a tough trip to Arsenal themselves this weekend, but Skinner said his side be concentrating only on themselves.

"Of course it would ideal if both teams drop points, but we can't rely on that. Tottenham is too big a game for us too ignore - they can really hurt us as well. We will be fully focused" noted the head coach.