Louis van Gaal says his preparations for Manchester United's Premier League win over Sunderland earlier today were disrupted on Friday.
When Van Gaal named his squad to take on the Black Cats at Old Trafford, Luke Shaw, Phil Jones and backup goalkeeper Victor Valdes were all missing.
And following the game, which was won 2-0 with two goals from Wayne Rooney in the second half, the Dutchman revealed that the trio suffered injury niggles on his final day of preparing his team, meaning he could not pick any of them.
"Luke Shaw [had a tight hamstring] and Jones was ill", he told MUTV.
"I cannot put those players in my line-up.
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"Victor Valdes also has a problem and wasn’t on the bench.
"I had to make three changes during our final day of preparation", Van Gaal added.
It remains to be seen whether any of the trio put themselves back in contention to play in Manchester United's next match, which is quick in coming with a Wednesday evening trip to take on Newcastle United at St. James' Park.
The Red Devils are third in the Premier League table with 50 points from 27 games so far.
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