14 October 2023 , 08:10
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Casemiro was forced off prematurely in Brazil 's World Cup qualifier leaving Erik ten Hag with a wait to discover the state of his fitness.
The Manchester United midfielder is away on international duty in South America and was brought off with 11 minutes remaining in Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Venezuela on Thursday evening. Brazil will play Uruguay on Tuesday but it remains to be see whether Casemiro features having been forced off.
Ten Hag is already dealing with a lengthy list of absentees and losing Casemiro, who has remained a regular despite his dip in form, would be a frustration. Brazil head coach Fernando Diniz said on the injury: "Casemiro asked to come off due to a blow to his ankle."
It is always a fear of club managers when the international games come around and Ten Hag is already having to deal without six players on a long-term basis as Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Tyrell Malacia, Kobbie Mainoo and Amad Diallo all recover.
United’s football director John Murtough has confirmed the club are investigating the patterns as they look to understand the reasons behind their lengthy injury list as Ten Hag's absentees contributes to their disappointing start to the campaign.
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He said: "There are some strong mitigations for the mixed results so far, including 16 first-team players being injured or unavailable for periods since the start of the season. That’s two-thirds of the squad and means that Erik has not been able to pick his strongest XI once this season.
Casemiro was picked up an injury scare whilst with Brazil (Pedro Vilela/Getty Images)"Thankfully, we’ve started to see some of the injured players returning and that should make a difference, including our new signings Rasmus Hojlund and Mason Mount who are still bedding into the team. We’re also looking at why we’ve had so many injuries to see if there’s any patterns to improve prevention in future.
"Some of them have been impact injuries such as Kobbie’s and Amad’s, which are unpredictable. Others have been muscular and could reflect the sheer volume of games played over the past year, including last year’s World Cup."
United won their last match before the international break in dramatic circumstances as Scott McTominay's late brace saw off Brentford at Old Trafford as the team won their fourth league game of the season. When they return next weekend they will take on winless Sheffield United.