Carrick faces injury concerns at Como press conference as United's poor start deepens

Michael Carrick met the press in Como on Tuesday evening to preview Manchester United’s Champions League fixture, with the interim manager navigating a mounting injury list and a squad stretched thin at the back.

Yoro is suspended for the trip after receiving a red card in United’s 2-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid last week — a result that followed a promising 4-0 opening win over Sabah. The suspension leaves Carrick with limited options in central defence, particularly with Lisandro Martinez, Ayden Heaven, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, and Luke Shaw all absent from training at Carrington on Tuesday morning.

Martinez was substituted at half-time during United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds last weekend after picking up a knock, while Shaw has been sidelined since suffering an issue in the 1-1 draw with Tottenham, a game in which he played the full 90 minutes. Mainoo, who missed both the Atletico and Leeds matches with a minor injury, was also absent from the session.

Should Martinez and Heaven both be ruled out, Carrick would be left with just Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt as senior centre-back options — and de Ligt has only recently returned from back surgery, having not featured since 30 November last year. Academy centre-back Dan Armer trained with the first team on Tuesday, as did full-backs Harry Amass and Jaydan Kamason, suggesting youth players could be called upon.

At full-back, the picture is similarly thin. Patrick Dorgu remains a longer-term absentee after withdrawing from international duty, leaving Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui as potentially the only fit senior options in those positions.

Carrick was joined at the press conference by midfielder Santos, who is expected to feature against Como. The 44-year-old spoke at 6.30pm UK time from northern Italy, where he was expected to confirm the squad’s availability ahead of a fixture United cannot afford to approach lightly.

The backdrop to the European trip is a troubled domestic campaign. United have made their worst start to a Premier League season in 40 years, and the pressure on Carrick — and the club’s broader direction — continues to intensify with each setback.