Man Utd face Como in the Champions League on Wednesday, but the injuries are racking up for Michael Carrick at a crucial time in his reign.

Manchester United will be without nine first-team players for the Champions League trip to Como with Michael Carrick confirming injuries and illness have swept through his squad.

Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez both missed the training session on Tuesday morning before the squad flew to Milan, where they will stay ahead of travelling to and from Como for the game tomorrow. Both had been involved against Leeds at the weekend.

Martinez could return to face Bournemouth on Sunday, while Rashford is being rested as he continues to battle a niggling hip injury he picked up during the World Cup.

Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo are also still on the treatment table as they battle recent injuries, with Mainoo likely to return before the international break, while Shaw is a little further away. Leny Yoro is suspended after being sent off against Atletico Madrid last week.

Manuel Ugarte, (knee), Patrick Dorgu (hamstring) and Benjamin Sesko (shin) remain longer-term absentees, while Ayden Heaven is out with illness for the second game in a row.

"A bit of a mixed bag to be honest," Carrick said of his squad. "We've got quite a few missing. Licha's not too bad, but he's not with us, so we'll have to see whether he's ready for the weekend or not.

"Kobbie, we're probably looking at another maybe 10 days or so, but not exact. Luke a little bit longer than that. A bit of injury and a bit of illness in the camp floating through us.

"Ayden's ill and Marcus is still feeling a little bit of a hip issue that we're trying to overcome, so hopefully that'll be soon as well."

Sesko hasn't featured since the Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton more than a month ago, having aggravated a hip injury that sidelined him for almost four months over the summer. United are still weighing up how best to treat that and are expected to make a decision on the next steps this week.

"We're hoping really soon that we'll have a clear picture," said Carrick. "I'm not trying to delay it. Hopefully, next time we speak, maybe not tomorrow, but by the end of the week, we'll have something a little bit clearer. There's a bit of work going on at the moment, so we'll see what comes out of that."

Make sure you never miss the latest Manchester United news and opinion by making Manchester Evening News one of your Google preferred sources.

As a result of the injury crisis, youngsters Harry Amass, Jayden Kamason and Dan Armer are included in a threadbare squad and will be pushing for starts in defence on Wednesday, while Matthijs de Ligt might make his first competitive appearances for nearly 11 months.

"It's great to have him back," Carrick of the Dutch centre-back. "He's had such a long journey of maybe 11 months or so of being out, being patient, worked hard. We're delighted to have him back. He's fit, he's ready, he's been training for a number of weeks now, so he's in a really good place."

There could also be a first Champions League start for Amass. Carrick has picked five different left-backs in 10 games so far this season, but the 19-year-old isn't one of them, although injuries could finally hand him a chance in Como.

"That's why Harry's with us, he's right in contention and at some point young players need an opportunity and it's just finding the right time," said Carrick.

"Sometimes it's because there's an unfortunate thing happened to somebody else, sometimes it's just you're doing that well that we have to give you a chance. But all the young players are in a similar boat, in a similar level. There's maybe four, five, six of them that are trying to make that next step really in terms of getting into the team and trying to start games, and Harry's definitely one of them."