Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has described Alexis Sanchez’s attitude as ‘fantastic,’ saying that the Manchester United number 7 is ‘champing at the bit’ in training.
The Chilean missed two months of action with a hamstring injury towards the end of Jose Mourinho’s reign, only returning to the Manchester United first team as a second-half substitute against Newcastle on January 2nd, a game in which he provided a tidy assist for Marcus Rashford.
He was given an opportunity to impress from the start in United’s 2-0 FA Cup win over Reading but was withdrawn after 64 minutes, with the former Arsenal man aggravating his injury, something which kept him out of last weekend’s high profile clash against Spurs.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Brighton, the United caretaker boss was asked whether it was frustrating to have not had Sanchez at his disposal, although Solskjaer could only heap praise on the forward’s attitude during training.
“You’d have to ask him (if it’s been frustrating). A player loves to play football, it doesn’t matter who you are, and he’s been hindered by injury. I know how frustrating that can be and how eager you are to get back,” Solskjaer said in his pre-match press conference.
“Maybe in the Reading game at half-time he should have told me ‘I need to come off now’ because maybe the next 15 or 20 minutes were a bit too much because they were a setback for him.
“But he’s champing at the bit in training. His attitude has been fantastic and I’m looking forward to seeing him. I’ve got loads of good players to choose from.”
The Chilean returned to training again this week and is in contention to feature against the Seagulls.