Manchester United will be without Carlos Baleba for several weeks due to the hamstring injury he suffered against Roma.
United are waiting to discover if the £70m signing will play again this year as they are still to learn the full extent of his problem.
“We don't know, but it will be a number of weeks,” said manager Michael Carrick, “It won’t be after the international break [that Baleba returns]. It'll be a little bit longer than that.”
The 22-year-old went off in tears after pulling up in the first minute of the second half on Tuesday and was not expected to be fit for Sunday’s match against Aston Villa.
But now he is set to miss the trip to Anfield on 22 November and the Champions League game against Sporting CP three days later.
United face seven games in December, including a visit to Arsenal on December 20 and it is uncertain if Baleba will be fit in time to return then.
Baleba, who missed the start of the season with an ankle injury, has only started five games since his £70m move from Brighton.
Carrick faces a decision whether to include Patrick Dorgu in the squad against Villa. “Patrick's done a little bit of training this week,” he said. “So we've got to be patient with Pat.
“He's had a good period of time now with a couple of hamstrings that we need to manage that and be patient with that over the next few weeks as well.
“But he's slowly getting back with us, so we'll have to see whether he can be involved at the weekend or not.”
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