Solskjaer confident over Sanchez fitness ahead of Tottenham clash

Manchester United caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful Alexis Sanchez will recover from his hamstring problem in time to face Tottenham.

United made it five wins from five under Solskjaer on Saturday as first-half goals from Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku sent them through to the FA Cup fourth round at the expense of Reading. 

The win was marred somewhat by Sanchez hobbling off with 25 minutes remaining, struggling again with a hamstring issue. 

But Solskjaer is confident the Chile international will be available for selection at Wembley in a crunch Premier League clash next time out. 

“I hope it’s not going to be too bad,” Solskjaer told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“It’s the same hamstring that he’s been having trouble with but we’ll see. Hopefully he’ll be okay for next weekend.”

@Alexis_Sanchez #MUFC pic.twitter.com/bAH5rD6J8N

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 5, 2019

United were sluggish at times during their victory over the second-tier Royals, but Solskjaer took responsibility for their performance, acknowledging that he may have made too many changes.

“I have to say that they made it tough for us and I probably made it tough for us,” the Norwegian told BT Sport.

“You know when you make nine changes it is never easy for a team to play together. 

“We’ve learned a lot, every single day we play together and train together we learn. We know we need some fitness work, need to work on relations, but today I put a team together that never played together. 

“We’re through, that’s good, [but] loads of things to improve.

“We know that if the performance is repeated at Wembley against Spurs, we’re not going to come away with a clean sheet and any points.”