Man United could be without Toone until Christmas, says Skinner

Marc Skinner revealed that Manchester United could be without midfielder Ella Toone until the new year after she picked up a calf injury in training.

Toone has featured in five games in the Women's Super League this season, but is yet to register a goal or an assist so far this term.

The 25-year-old has missed United's last two games and was not selected in Sarina Wiegman's England squad for their upcoming friendlies against the United States and Switzerland.

She had previously appeared in a staggering 96 straight matches before missing United's WSL showdown with Leicester City last weekend.

Marc provided injury updates on Aoife Mannion, Ella Toone and Elisabeth Terland in his Friday press conference.#MUWomen

— Manchester United Women (@ManUtdWomen) November 22, 2024

But ahead of the Red Devils' meeting with league leaders Chelsea on Sunday, Skinner confirmed they would be without Toone for not only that game, but for the foreseeable future.

"We have three games [after the international break and before Christmas]. There's always the hope, but I think you balance and you go, 'right, if we can get her back, we get her back'," Skinner said.

"But we're just not going to rush her in this moment because it's a calf injury, it's your running mechanism. If we injure the running mechanism, it takes longer.

"So ideally we'd like her back for those games afterwards.

"The projection is she misses this game [Chelsea], she misses the international window, probably misses the first game after that, and then we'll see from there.

"But because it is such a short block of only three games, we'll assess whether it's worth that or actually resetting to come back after Christmas."