Pogba was not ready to face Burnley, says Solskjaer
Paul Pogba was not ready to face Burnley, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed after the Frenchman missed the 2-0 victory at Turf Moor.Pogba returned from nearly three months out with an ankle injury as a substitute against Watford last weekend and played the second half of Thursdays victory over Newcastle.With Scott McTominay injured, Pogba had been tipped for a start against Burnley but did not make the short trip to Lancashire.Marcus Rashford kept his cool to score Manchester Uniteds second goal at Burnley (Martin Rickett/PA)Solskjaer said: Hes been out for a long while and it didnt feel right, he reacted to (playing against Newcastle), so well just have to take our time and get him ready for next time.When youve been out for such a while its always going to take time before youre 100 per cent.United did not feel Pogbas absence, though, with Fred particularly impressive as United made it back-to-back Premier League victories to finish the year.Anthony Martial took advantage of an error by Charlie Taylor to score the opener just before half-time and Marcus Rashford secured the points with virtually the final kick of the game.Sound for this one, Reds#MUTV have caught up with the boss! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/TEWqFOL9di Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 28, 2019Solskjaer said: It was a very good performance, very happy with the attitude and approach to the game. We knew we had to be on top of our game both on and off the ball.Coming here, when Ive watched Burnley, with the front two with (Ashley) Barnes and (Chris) Wood, youre going to be in for a tough night and I thought we handled them really well.Were getting better, were improving, just weve had too many draws early on and that puts us in the position were in. Weve only lost once each month if you go a month between every time you lose its not bad for a team thats learning. Tonight was a big step forward anyway.Regarding McTominays absence, Solskjaer estimated the midfielder will need around three or four weeks to recover from his knee injury.REACTION | McNeil still relishing the chance to play against 'the best' despite tonight's defeat.WATCH https://t.co/AkOiJxRSpN pic.twitter.com/re6EYLZVyW Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) December 28, 2019The next couple of weeks, I dont think well see him, itll be more than that, said the Norwegian.But hes always proved before if you give him three weeks, hes back in two, but I dont know if its three or four weeks. It might be something like this.Burnley boss Sean Dyche was disappointed that it was another error from his team that allowed United to make the breakthrough.He said: Two back-to-back games that have been frustrating really because two mistakes at key times have affected the outcome.But a lot of good things from the performance. (We were) still playing a top side. Generally first half we handled it well and then a mistake changes the feel. I thought second half we responded to that really well. I was really pleased with the second-half performance.(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
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