The Manchester United squad for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against West Ham is starting to take shape with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer naming two more players who will be included.
Having already revealed that Jesse Lingard will start the tie at Old Trafford, the manager has now told us that Alex Telles and Anthony Elanga will also be in the matchday group, although he didn’t declare whether they will be selected in the XI or among the substitutes.
When asked during our exclusive interview about Elanga’s development, Solskjaer replied, “Anthony was terrific in pre-season – his attitude, his enthusiasm, his directness. I love to see players like this.
“He was disappointed not to travel down to West Ham [for Sunday’s Premier League game] but he scored for the Under-23s and now he’s ready. He’ll be involved in the squad.”
Ole was referring to Elanga’s weekend strike at Leigh Sports Village, where he earned and converted a penalty to open the scoring for the Reds’ senior Academy side in an eventual 2-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion in Premier League 2.
The Sweden Under-21 international has already made two competitive appearances under Solskjaer and both were starts, in last May’s Premier League defeat to Leicester City at Old Trafford and the 2-1 away win over Wolves in which he netted a fantastic first goal after just 13 minutes.
Meanwhile, Telles is hoping to add to his tally of 24 appearances for the Reds and put his injury woes behind him
The Brazilian defender has already told us that he feels “much better” and is “thrilled to be back” in full training at Carrington, after recovering from the ankle injury he sustained in pre-season.
The manager also reported there are no new injuries in the camp, despite Sunday’s 2-1 win over West Ham being a physical and feisty affair at times – not least in both penalty areas.
“We lost nobody on Sunday so it’s the same squad or same pool of players to choose from,” said Ole.
“We know it’s early on in the season and some players need minutes to get their proper fitness up so I will make a few changes.”
