Manchester United injury blow as star forward suffers ankle damage

The 22-year-old has been one of the few successes in a campaign to forget at Old Trafford, scoring six goals in his last 14 appearances in all competitions.

But Amad is now facing a spell on the sidelines after sustaining ankle ligament damage in training.

The PA news agency understands the Ivory Coast international is still being assessed, but a United source indicated it is touch and go whether he will play again this season.

The development is a major blow to head coach Ruben Amorim, who revealed ahead of Sunday’s trip to Tottenham that they had been hit by some unspecified injuries and illness.

Reports subsequently emerged that United midfielders Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte and Toby Collyer picked up injuries in addition to Diallo’s setback.

Lisandro Martinez recently sustained a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, while Amorim suggested Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans, Mason Mount and Altay Bayindir remain absent. Academy players, including 17-year-old Chido Obi, have been promoted to first-team training to help cope with the issues.

United sit 13th in the Premier League standings ahead of travelling to Tottenham, who are two points behind them.

As if they were not dealing with enough, PA understands United’s travel plans to the capital were disrupted by a signal failure on the West Coast mainline.

The issue meant a coach journey to London rather than a train, although that is only understood to have added an hour to the journey time.