🎧'A lot of responsibility on really young players'

Will Michael Carrick have to rely on a younger looking defence for Manchester United's upcoming fixtures?

Man Utd have a number of absentees in defence, with England internationals Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw potentially being added to that list after being forced off in their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

That victory made it 11 games unbeaten for the club, however with tough games against Aston Villa and Newcastle next, club reporter Simon Stone believes they may need to rely on a more youthful backline to get results from those games.

"Man Utd have about 15 players that you can really count on and think they can deliver results," he told BBC Radio Manchester's Devils' Advocate podcast.

"We've been trying to badger Carrick into telling us what's wrong with Matthijs de Ligt and how long he'll be out, he's probably not going to be back before the international break so we can forget about that.

"Once you start to delve into a situation where Patrick Dorgu isn't there, we don't know what Luke Shaw will be like, Lisandro Martinez out.

"That is weakening the core squad. If Harry Maguire isn't fit, then you're probably looking at Ayden Heaven and Leny Yoro.

"Heaven did quite well in a three-man defence, but if you only have those two, it's putting a lot of responsibility on really young players."

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