It appears that Manchester United's injury crisis has been added to this week after José Mourinho confirmed that promising midfielder Timothy Fosu-Mensah suffered a dislocated shoulder in the latter stages of the 174th Manchester derby on Thursday evening.
The 19-year-old box to box midfielder came on following the dismissal of Marouane Fellaini on 86 minutes after the Belgian lost his cool and appeared to lock heads with Blues striker Sergio Aguero just eight seconds after receiving a yellow card for a clumsy challenge.
Only two regular centre-midfielders left to choose from
The latest injury blow leaves the club with just 15 available outfield first-team players for the visit of Swansea City on Sunday - a must-win game if the Reds want a top four spot - including both Matty Willock and Axel Tuanzebe who are both yet to make their Premier League bows.
Mourinho also mentioned that Paul Pogba - who missed the Etihad Stadium outing due to fatigue - will only be back in time for the trip to Celta Vigo next week, meaning there's going to have to be a midfield pivot of Ander Herrera and Michael Carrick at the weekend seen as though Fellaini will be serving the first instalment of his three-match domestic ban.
Wayne Rooney could be an option
If worse comes to worst, the Portuguese boss has admitted that he'll turn to club captain Wayne Rooney to play in the middle of the park but Herrera and Carrick really should be the preferred pairing at such a crucial stage in the season.
With Pogba set to return in Thursday's Europa League semi-final 1st leg against the mid-table Spanish club, it will be the first of a few injury boosts in the coming weeks for United as it seems like Juan Mata is also nearing a return to training after undergoing groin surgery in March.