Man Utd’s Dalot could miss rest of season: Amorim

LONDON: Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has revealed Portugal defender Diogo Dalot could miss the rest of the season after suffering a calf injury.

Dalot only appeared as a substitute in last Sunday’s 1-0 loss against Wolves as Amorim tried to keep him fresh for the final games of the season. But the versatile full-back has sustained a muscle problem that threatens to bring his campaign to an abrupt end.

“Diogo Dalot is out. He has something in his muscle, in his calf. He’s out for these next games,” Amorim told reporters ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Bournemouth. Dalot has made 51 appearances for United this season in all competitions, missing just one match through suspension.

Asked if the 26-year-old could miss the rest of the season, Amorim added: “There is that possibility, but I don’t know. We’ll check week by week because he works really hard, he can recover quite well.

“He had a sequence of games that he played all the time. We tried to manage but some of the players have to play a lot of minutes.” Dalot’s absence is a blow for United in with a crucial Europa League semi-final first leg trip to Athletic Bilbao looming on Thursday.

United limp into the weekend languishing in 14th place in the Premier League. Amorim, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, could preside over their worst league finish since they were relegated from the top-flight in 1973-74.

- ‘Things can change’ - United are already assured of their worst points total in the Premier League era, which started in 1992. A major overhaul of United’s underachieving squad is likely even if they win the Europa League.