Bruno Fernandes admits Man Utd inability to cope with injury crisis

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes, has admitted that the club’s injury crisis has taken a physical and mental toll on the players.

Man United’s FA Cup collapse against Fulham was just the latest blow to Ruben Amorim’s dismal season since his arrival at Old Trafford in November. The Portuguese manager was forced into naming just seven substitutes as the Red Devils faced elimination from a penalty shootout. And with none of his ten sidelined stars expected back for Thursday’s Europa League tie away to Real Sociedad, things could get even worse for the former Sporting head coach.

Speaking after Sunday’s defeat, Man United captain Bruno Fernandes admitted that the ongoing injury crisis has taken a physical and mental toll on his teammates. “We know that we had many injuries in this period and we don’t have as many players and we’ve been playing almost always with the same players for long spells,” said Fernandes. “It’s been difficult. We now just need to recover, focus ourselves as best we can to get to our best, fresh legs to the next games.”

Despite their 4-0 loss to Barcelona, Real Sociedad represent a fierce rival for a United side that has been struggling for consistency. “It’s going to be a tough one – a Spanish team that plays brilliant football, with very, very good players up front and very high quality coming out from the back,” added the 30-year-old midfielder. “So we need to be fresh to run again because they will make us run, and then when we have the ball, we have to make them run, too.”

Reflecting on the end of his team’s FA Cup run, Fernandes said: “Now we look forward to the rest of the season, with the main focus now on the next game in a competition where we want to go forward. It’s one of our goals for this season to try to get a trophy. Unluckily for us, it’s a dream that getting into the final at Wembley again is not there anymore, but we need to keep pushing for what’s left of the season.”