Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted the ankle injury suffered by winger Antony during Thursday’s 4-1 win over Chelsea appears to be ‘serious’.
Antony had to be stretchered off the field around the half-hour mark after a seemingly innocuous tackle from Chelsea’s Trevoh Chalobah left him in real pain on the turf.
United close their Premier League season out against Fulham on Sunday but Ten Hag will be sweating over Antony’s involvement in the FA Cup final against Manchester City six days later, and his update after the game suggested he was not confident the Brazilian would be back.
“I don’t know. Everyone has seen he came off,” Ten Hag told reporters after the game.
“I can tell you that it’s serious but we have to wait minimum 24 hours and then we know probably more about the status of his injury.”
Antony is not the only injury worry for Ten Hag as left-back Luke Shaw was withdrawn at half-time following complaints of pain in his back.
“With Shaw, we have to wait as well. After tomorrow we know more,” the boss revealed.
United are already without Lisandro Martinez, Donny van de Beek, Marcel Sabitzer and Scott McTominay, while Marcus Rashford has been both injured and unwell over the past few weeks and saw his return to action accelerated by Antony’s exit.
The Red Devils must match Newcastle’s result against Chelsea when they meet Fulham on Sunday if they are to secure third place in the Premier League.
Ten Hag’s focus may, however, be on the chance to complete a domestic cup double at Wembley as he bids to add the FA Cup to his Carabao Cup triumph from earlier in the season.