Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal admits he's unsure of who will be in his starting XI for their Capital One Cup match versus Middlesbrough, with many player in his squad fatigued and in the "red zone."
The Dutchman is already without Luke Shaw, Paddy McNair and Antonio Valencia due to injury and is worried that other players in his team could also risk getting hurt because of playing too many matches.
"I have a lot of players in the red zone, because we have had a lot of matches and we have a lot of matches to play," Van Gaal said in the Guardian. "I have to see if I can use them or not. We need all the days to recover at this moment."
Van Gaal has said he won't know his starting lineup until closer to kickoff for their match against Aitor Karanka's Championship club. Among those in line for a possible rest for the mid-week match are Wayne Rooney, David De Gea, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling, Michael Carrick and Anthony Martial.
James Wilson and Andreas Pereira are in the matchday squad versus Middlesbrough and could feature in place of any players Van Gaal sees fit to rest.
"[Wilson and Pereira] are in the selection, but I have to select the lineup and that I don't know," Van Gaal said. "I have to do that tomorrow.
"I think Middlesbrough is a good playing side. They want to play football, that is also a benefit for us, I think. You can also see teams with another play style and that is more difficult for us, but we can play football against them but it is also dependable of the strategy their team."
Looking back on his team's goalless draw against Manchester City in their weekend derby, Van Gaal said he disagreed that it was a boring or unexciting game for fans to watch.
"We had three chances in the second half and you have to finish those kind of chances," Van Gaal said. "It was a high level game with two teams defending very compact and it is very difficult to create openings. We did that in the second half and the fans shall enjoy the tension of the game and also because of the result we were closer to win.
"I think the Manchester United fans were happy to see that because I have seen them also applauding when we left the pitch. It is not like the media are saying."