Benjamin Sesko is close to getting minutes for Manchester United, head coach Michael Carrick says.

United’s 23-year-old striker has been out since coming off with a shin injury against Liverpool at the start of May, and has missed all of pre-season, but is back training with the group.

Matthijs de Ligt is also training on the grass at Carrington, while United’s head coach said Mason Mount is “touch and go for the weekend”. Sesko’s return, given his scoring form at the end of last season, where he hit 11 Premier League goals, is significant.

Carrick said: “Ben is back training, so that is another positive, and looking forward to having him back around the group and getting him some minutes.”

De Ligt has been sidelined for nine months due to a back injury. “Mattha has been out for a long period of time, but he is training. (It’s) great to have him back,” said Carrick. “He won’t be involved, but he is in good shape, moving in a good direction, so that is a bonus for us.”

Carrick said most on Mount, who was heading for a start at Hull with his form in pre-season, only to suffer a problem that forced him off against Paris Saint-Germain on August 8.

“Managing Mason a little bit,” Carrick said. “But he is very close, touch and go for the weekend really and going into next week.”
Carrick was asked about Mount’s previous availability issues.

“I think first of all Mason is a top player; we have seen that in pre-season he was one of our best players in the early stages, the first games, I thought he was fantastic. Not surprising, it’s what I’ve seen before, what I expect of him.

“And he’s picked up a bit of a knock; there are no dramas, it’s been ten days. It is nothing major. He has missed some football over recent years, and he wants to be fit and be in that full rhythm and stay fit. And we are doing our best to help him do that.

“But he is a top player, Mason. We have to manage the squad. There are going to be injuries though the season, we’ve got to have a squad that is strong enough to have a really top starting team with the depth to carry us through the season. Mason will be back very, very soon, if not immediately. So it’s all good.”

Karl Darlow, who United signed on a free transfer, is also back training after arriving having had a procedure at the end of last season.