Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim says he is prepared to cope with a depleted squad following Bruno Fernandes’ injury in Sunday’s Premier League defeat at Aston Villa, Afrosport reports.
The Portuguese midfielder came off at the start of the second half and will now miss the crucial Boxing Day clash at home against Newcastle United.
Fernandes’ absence adds to the injuries of Kobbie Mainoo, Matthijs De Ligt and Harry Maguire, while Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui have departed for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Amorim stated there was no excuse not to get results despite the absence of key players.
“We are going to find solutions. No excuses, we need to win the next game, and we are going to try to win the next game,” he said.
“We have to find different solutions. Last year, we had the same issue. When you have that experience, maybe it doesn’t look so bad. We know, without all these players, that we are going to suffer. We are going to try.”
3 – On what was his 292nd start for Manchester United, Bruno Fernandes was substituted at half time of a game for just the third time – previously against Tottenham in October 2020 (Premier League) and Real Sociedad in February 2021 (Europa League). Worry. pic.twitter.com/NaaRfKJ37L
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 21, 2025
Amorim added: “What we cannot do is reach January and try to do everything with urgency and make mistakes again and be left saying ‘here we go again’.
“I am not going to go to Jason [Wilcox, director of football] and say we need a lot of players. If we have to suffer, the club comes first.
“Of course, we are in the moment that we need points, but we are going to continue with our plan. In this moment, you may feel we are going to struggle, but we will see.”
United have dropped to seventh on the table and are now three points away from the top four, occupied by rivals Chelsea.
