Wayne Rooney tells Man Utd star to 'play injured' after another setback

Manchester United attacker Benjamin Sesko should play through the pain, says Wayne Rooney (Picture: Stick to United with Wayne Rooney)

Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has called on Benjamin Sesko to battle through the pain and ‘play when you’re injured’ after the striker suffered a setback in his recovery from a shin issue.

Sesko is yet to make a single start in the Premier League this term having been absent for the entirety of United’s pre-season schedule with the problem.

The 23-year-old had appeared to be on his way back to full fitness as he found the net in United’s 2-2 draw with Everton before scoring another in the side’s Champions League group-stage victory over Sabah.

But Sesko was left out of the Red Devils’ trip to Fulham last weekend and it was subsequently confirmed that the centre-forward was back on the treatment table again.

As a result, Sesko was forced to withdraw from Slovenia’s squad for their upcoming Nations League matches versus Scotland (playing home and away), North Macedonia and Switzerland over the next two-and-a-half weeks.

It remains to be seen if the former RB Leipzig man will be fit and firing in time for United’s return to action on October 10, when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Tottenham to Old Trafford.

‘What’s his injury? His shin? Has he broken it? You can hurt your shin, take tackles,’ Rooney said when the topic of Sesko’s latest setback was raised on Stick to United with Wayne Rooney.

The Slovenian is still yet to start a league game this season (Picture: Getty)

Carrick will hope to have Sesko back at his disposal after the international break (Picture: Getty)

‘I bet he’s wearing those little stupid shin pads as well or he’s got shin splints or whatever.

‘If you’re at a football club like Manchester United and you’re trying to get in the team, play as the number nine and you’ve got a game before the international break which is a must-win game and you’ve got a sore shin… and you’re not playing.

‘That’s a big part of the problem. You play when you’re injured unless you physically can’t play, you play when you’re injured.’

Rooney looked back in his days as a United player, recalling how ‘five or six’ squad members at a time would receive injections from the team doctor in order to make themselves available.

‘I remember before games we’d have, you used to get injections and you used to have a doctor putting them in your arse,’ he added.

‘There would be a line of like five or six players stood there with their shorts down and the doctor is just injecting them, but to play.’

Sesko has scored 14 goals in 38 appearances for the Red Devils (Picture: Getty)

Turning his attentions to United’s next match with Spurs, Rooney was at a loss when it came to potential changes that could be made to Michael Carrick’s starting XI.

He did, though, encourage the United head coach to consider switching Matheus Cunha and Marcus Rashford’s positions to try to freshen up his attack.

‘If I’m being honest, and this is where the difficulty is for Michael Carrick, he hasn’t got many options,’ Rooney, the club’s all-time record goalscorer, explained.

Cunha rescued a point for United in their last clash with Fulham (Picture: Getty)

‘After the City game last week, against Brighton he made a lot of changes, none of those players who came in said, “Right, I should be starting”, with their performance so there’s not much he can do in changing that starting XI.

‘In the game against Fulham, when Marcus goes off and Cunha goes to the left, I think, for me, Cunha is better on the left where he can still come inside but then receiving the ball facing the opposition, facing the backline.

‘Playing with your back to goal is so difficult as a number nine in terms of needing to be aware about whether the centre-back is going to come into the back of you, is he going to drop off you? You’ve got to be looking, can you get turned?

Carrick cut a frustrated figure on the touchline at Craven Cottage (Picture: Getty)

‘When you’re playing out wide, when you receive the ball, you’re already turned and Cunha’s best attribute is running with the ball and driving with the ball, not getting the ball and trying to play people through.

‘So yeah, I would have changed, a few weeks ago actually, I would have had Cunha off the left and with no number nine, I’d rather have Rashford as a nine than Cunha.

An ankle injury means Carlos Baleba is still yet to make his United debut following his £70million summer move from Brighton.

However, the Cameroonian was an unused substitute for the first time at Craven Cottage on Sunday, and Rooney believes his return could be key if the club are to turn their fortunes around.

Rooney fails to see a clear ‘vision’ at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty)

‘If I’m picking a starting XI, I’m not too sure if I’m being honest, other than changing players positionally,’ he went on.

‘That’s where the club is at, that’s where they’ve been left with the players who have come in.

‘You have to make sure you get Carlos Baleba in the team but other than that, [Noussair] Mazraoui maybe coming in but that’s about it.’

Baleba made the bench against Fulham at the weekend (Picture: Getty)

Looking at the bigger picture, Rooney has been left confused by mixed messaging coming out of United and fails to see a clear ‘vision’ or ‘direction’ for where the club are going.

‘As the fans looking in, you just want to see what direction the club is going in. It’s all over the place, it looks like it’s all over the place,’ he added.