Solskjaer: Pogba unlikely to play against Newcastle - I want him ready for Liverpool

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is ready to wrap midfielder Paul Pogba in cotton wool ahead of Sunday’s Premier League meeting with Newcastle because he wants the superstar to feature against Liverpool.

It has been an injury-hit start to the campaign for the former Juventus ace, who has managed only six appearances from 10 games in all competitions for the Old Trafford side this season.

The 26-year-old missed three games in September because of ankle trouble, returned to face Rochdale in the Carabao Cup and then Arsenal in a 1-1 draw on Monday but was absent for Thursday’s Europa League trip to AZ due to a foot problem.

Solskjaer, meanwhile, is unwilling to rush Pogba back into action to face struggling Newcastle at St James’ Park this weekend.

“He probably won’t be available on Sunday,” Solskjaer admitted. “There's an international break as well, it might be time for us to give him 10 or 14 days extra to be ready for Liverpool.”

Indeed, Pogba has been overlooked by France boss Didier Deschamps ahead of the 2018 World Cup winners’ clashes against Iceland and Turkey over the next fortnight, with N'Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi, Tanguy Ndombele, Moussa Sissoko and Corentin Tolisso the midfield corps for those fixtures.

Solskjaer, meanwhile, is not confident that the injury problems in the United squad will clear at all ahead of the trip to the north east.

Asked if he would have any of his injured players back in time, he said: “I don’t know. Let’s see on Saturday morning but probably not.”

Assuming that the injury list stays the same, it means that Solskjaer will be bereft of Eric Bailly, Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Phil Jones, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Anthony Martial as well as Pogba for the fixture.

The Norwegian is coming under increasing pressure to get results, with the 46-year-old having won only five of the 20 matches that United have played since he was appointed manager on a permanent basis in March earlier this year.

They occupy unfamiliar territory in the Premier League, in which they sit 10th with nine points and apparently face a major battle to be playing any kind of European football at all next season.