Five Manchester United Players Miss Training Ahead of Champions League Tie

David Moyes' Manchester United woes could be about to get worse after five first team players missed an open training session ahead of their final Champions League game.

The day before the club's clash with Shakhtar Donetsk at Old Trafford, Michael Carrick, Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Marouane Fellaini and Patrice Evra were all absent from a media training session at the club's AoN Training Complex, the Daily Telegraph report.

Carrick's absence in midfield has been highlighted as one of the key reasons behind his side's increasingly faltering form, having not featured since the 1-0 win over Arsenal last month after picking up an Achilles injury.

Vidic returned to the United line up for the club's consecutive home defeats to Everton and Newcastle United last week, but did not feature in Monday morning's session with stand in captain Patrice Evra also missing out. Both men completed a full 90 minutes on Saturday.

After missing the defeat to Alan Pardew's side, Moyes revealed that both Fellaini and Smalling had picked up injuries with the Belgian midfielder suffering from a bruised back and the defender left out due to a tight hamstring.

A swathe of absentees will prove to be a big blow to United's hopes of topping their group when the Ukrainian champions visited Old Trafford. While the continued absence of Carrick will have been anticipated, the club's dilapidated back line and midfield will be of great concern to Moyes with the club needing just a point to seal top spot.

One positive for the Premier League champions saw Shinji Kagawa resume training after missing the defeat to the Magpies. The Japan international was a bizarre omission after his manager revealed the player had to have his stomach pumped after eating too much.

The United boss is scheduled to hold a pre-match press conference at 14:00 (GMT) where he is likely to address the club's injury concerns.