Manchester United injury news: Wayne Rooney joined by 11 others on sidelines for Europa League tie with FC Midtjylland

Van Gaal has 12 players unavailable as United begin their Europa League campaign with a trip to FC Midtjylland

(2016 Getty Images)

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will have to cope with an injury crisis with no fewer than 13 players ruled out of their Europa League trip to FC Midtjylland in the Europa League.

United were rocked on Wednesday when it was confirmed that captain Wayne Rooney will miss at least six weeks after suffering knee ligament damage, having played through the pain to complete 90 minutes against Sunderland last weekend.

With Rooney ruled out until April, Van Gaal sees his attacking options somewhat limited, with Anthony Martial likely to be deployed as a lead striker. The only other option would be to play young striker Will Keane up front, with Van Gaal unlikely to risk starting the out-of-form Memphis Depay as a striker.

Despite the problems in attack though, it’s in defence where Van Gaal’s options have been severely limited to the point that he could be forced to start with two academy players making their first start for the club.

Left-back Cameron Borthwick-Jackson’ illness is likely to see Joe Riley come into the side for his debut, with Luke Shaw and Ashley Young still sidelined for the foreseeable future. On the right, Matteo Darmian misses out due to the shoulder injury he suffered in the defeat to Sunderland last weekend, while Guilermo Varela will not feature due to a knock.

Antonio Valencia remains a long-term absentee following ankle surgery, while Phil Jones is still unavailable having not played since the start of the year.

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Marcos Rojo remains sidelined until the end of the month with a dislocated shoulder, while Bastian Schweinsteiger, Adnan Januzaj and Marouane Fellaini will also miss the Europa League encounter.