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United's defensive injury crisis deepens

Cape Town - Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has described his defensive injury crisis as "unbelievable" after Cameron Borthwick-Jackson became the latest casualty on Monday.

The Red Devils progressed to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a 3-0 win over League One outfit Shrewsbury at Greenhous Meadow, the goals coming from Chris Smalling, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata.

But victory came at a cost as Borthwick-Jackson had to be replaced at half-time after picking up a knock, while Lingard and Will Keane also reported complaints after the match.

The 19-year-old defender had seized the chance given to him by Van Gaal towards the end of last year following injuries to Luke Shaw, Marcos Rojo, Antonio Valencia, Ashley Young and Matteo Darmian, with the academy product making five starts in the Premier League.

However, Borthwick-Jackson has joined the club's lengthy injury list, adding to Van Gaal's problems, with goalkeeper David de Gea also missing out after picking up a minor injury in Denmark on Thursday prior to the Europa League defeat to FC Midtjylland.

"It is unbelievable because [in addition to Keane] I have taken Borthwick-Jackson off because he was injured and Jesse Lingard was struggling towards the end too," the Dutchman told BT Sport.

"I changed [Juan] Mata and [Anthony] Martial to give them rest and we picked up more injuries, so it is unbelievable - it is the programme [of fixtures] I think."

Commenting on De Gea, he added: "I don't know [if De Gea will be fit for Thursday], it is not so heavy but we have to wait and see when we can start him again."

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