Manchester United vs West Ham - United to be without Rooney for clash against West Ham

Posted Saturday, December 05, 2015 by PA

Manchester United captain Louis van Gaal has been left reeling by the news that he will be without Wayne Rooney for the Barclays Premier League clash with West Ham.

Despite being substituted in the 68th minute with a knock, Rooney seemed in no discomfort at all when he walked out of the King Power Stadium last Saturday following United's 1-1 draw at Leicester.

But Van Gaal revealed on Friday that the striker had suffered a "nasty" ankle injury that will keep him out of Saturday's home match against West Ham.

And even though Rooney has not been in sparkling form this season, his experience and presence will be missed.

"It's a nasty injury," the United manager said of Rooney, who has played 499 times for the club.

"He shall not play his 500th game (on Saturday) because he is more injured than I thought.

"His ankle is not good enough and we have to recover that ankle with a lot of strength. He has to do a lot of exercises to make his ankle stronger. He needs more time."

Van Gaal also confirmed defender Marcos Rojo would be sidelined for a number of weeks after dislocating his shoulder in training.

The Argentina left-back suffered the same problem last November in the 1-0 defeat at Manchester City and had only just returned to training following another injury.

"He was recovered of his (previous) injury so he trained with us on Wednesday after we gave all the players two days off," Van Gaal said.

"He started fresh with us but he fell down and it was a bad fall and he dislocated his shoulder.

"It's more or less the same as what happened last season (at City) so he is for more weeks out.

"Whether he shall be operated on is a question for Marcos and the doctor. We have to wait for the scan. We have to make the scan at the proper time."

Van Gaal conceded Ander Herrera and Phil Jones, who missed the last two games with hamstring and ankle injuries respectively, would not be fit for the visit of the Hammers on Saturday.

The only good news for Van Gaal from the treatment room is that midfielder Jesse Lingard has overcome a hamstring injury and is fit to face Slaven Bilic's side.

Bilic insists Manchester United are anything but boring.

Van Gaal's side have been accused of being dull this season despite lying third in the Premier League, a point off top spot.

Even sections of their own fans have chanted "attack, attack, attack" in frustration at Van Gaal's conservative approach, a far cry to the swashbuckling sides which played under Sir Alex Ferguson.

But Bilic, who takes West Ham to Old Trafford to face United on Saturday, said: "I don't find them boring.

"I have watched many games - they are always on television - and in every game they have more chances than the opponent. In every game they have more possession and in every game the opponent only has one or two chances.

"They are different from the Sir Alex Ferguson era when - especially at home - they were more electric, they were quicker, playing around the box and in the box.

"But narrow victories are still victories. They are not conceding goals. Some people say they are boring, I heard it many times. They are having the ball, they are not giving you the ball and defending.

"They have possession, they are controlling the game and they are trying to win every game so you can say that they are different from before, especially at home when the other teams are defending with numbers behind the ball.

"You can't play quicker because you need gaps and space behind the opponent. For them it is hard to find. So we can call it controlled football, patient football, but it is so far very effective because they are sitting well in the table."

Andy Carroll is set to start in attack after Diafra Sakho was ruled out for three months with a thigh injury which requires surgery.