Manchester United forward Anthony Martial expected to be fit for Burnley clash

Manchester United forward Anthony Martial missed last night's (26 October) victory over Manchester City due to a minor foot injury but will be available for Saturday's match against Burnley, reports suggest.

Martial, 20, was a surprise omission from the United squad that secured a narrow victory over their city rivals courtesy of a winner from Juan Mata, with Marcus Rashford selected ahead of him on the left-hand side of attack.

According to SFR Sport, the France international was pulled out of the squad due to minor inflammation on his foot, with Jose Mourinho opting to take no risks with the player.

They add the former Monaco starlet is expected be available once again on Saturday for the visit of Sean Dyche's side. SFR were also one of the first to report Martial's absence ahead of United's stalemate with Liverpool on 17 October, where a minor knee injury also saw his manager leave him out of his squad.

Martial has endured a rather inconsistent start to his second season as a United player, not scoring until the club's 10<sup>th game of the season against Stoke City after coming off the substitutes' bench. Having missed the Liverpool game, he returned to the starting XI for the Europa League clash with Fenerbahce, scoring from the penalty spot as United eased to a 4-1 win.

Despite that goal, he again started on the bench against Chelsea last Sunday, coming on after 65 minutes when his side were already three goals down.

Captain Wayne Rooney and summer signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan also missed Wednesday's win over City. Rooney remained absent due to an injury suffered in training ahead of last Sunday's defeat to Chelsea, but Mkhitaryan's absence remains more of a mystery, having not featured for the club since he was hauled off at half-time in a league meeting between the two Manchester clubs in September.

Chris Smalling was also left out of the squad, with Mourinho revealing post-match the centre-half had also picked up an injury.