Luke Shaw injury: Erik ten Hag gives update on Manchester United's latest setback

Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag has admitted that Luke Shaw's latest injury “does not look good” after he was forced off again in the game against Luton.

The English left-back appeared to have recovered from an injury that saw him substituted at half-time as a “precautionary measure” in last weekend's dramatic 2-1 win at Aston Villa, and started Sunday's clash with the Hatters at Kenilworth Road.

However, Shaw was replaced again by Victor Lindelof shortly before half-time against Luton after the unspecified problem recurred.

After another nerve-wracking 2-1 away win – their fifth in a row in all competitions and fourth in a row in the league – secured by an early brace from the in-form Rasmus Hojlund, Ten Hag stressed he was unsure about the severity of Shaw's injury but admitted it did not look good as United prepare to undergo further scans on Monday.

“I can't say,” Ten Hag said when asked by BBC Radio Five Live about the severity of Shaw's injury.

“We have to wait at least until tomorrow to see what's going on.

“Sure, if you get off, it doesn’t look great.”

When asked for more information about Shaw during the post-match press conference, Ten Hag confirmed: “No, it was not a punch.”

Shaw has endured an injury-plagued season at Old Trafford so far and has only been limited to a total of 15 appearances in all competitions in the 2023/24 season.

The 28-year-old missed three months of action between August and November due to a muscle injury, and was out for another month between late December and January.

United were without players such as Mason Mount and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in the game against Luton, and long-term injured players Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez and Anthony Martial also had to leave the team.

Not only did Ten Hag take Shaw off the pitch shortly before half-time, but he also replaced Harry Maguire and Casemiro at half-time on Sunday and brought on Jonny Evans and Scott McTominay.

The Dutchman said of this double substitution: “I think the game was going in that direction, the referee was under a lot of pressure.”

“There was a risk of another booking for both of them. We have good replacements in Jonny Evans and Scott McTominay, so we took them off the pitch. We didn't want to take that risk.”