Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw is reportedly willing to play through the pain of a groin tear in order to earn Jose Mourinho’s trust.
The 21-year-old sustained the injury during United’s 3-1 defeat to Watford last weekend, while he was singled out by Mourinho for criticism after the game.
However, according to The Sun, such is the England international’s desperation to prove to Mourinho that he is capable of becoming a stalwart in his team, he’ll receive constant treatment and avoid a spell on the sidelines by managing the injury instead.
In turn, he’ll push to be in contention for Saturday’s encounter with Leicester City, and will hope that the United boss isn’t set to drop him.
It’s been a torrid week or so for United as a whole after they fell to three consecutive defeats in eight days, losing two Premier League matches as well as their Europa League opener.
As they prepare to face Northampton in the EFL Cup on Wednesday night, Mourinho will be desperate to end their poor spell as soon as possible, although he will be expected to make several changes to his line-up.
Shaw will likely miss out on this occasion, but his commitment can’t be faulted if he is indeed ready to do what is necessary to continue to be available for selection in the short-term.
It might not be the cleverest of ideas if he ends up aggravating the problem and suffers a bigger setback, but he clearly feels as though he has a point to prove and is ready to make sacrifices to keep the left-back spot at United for himself.