Manchester United players battled through flooded roads to reach training on Saturday morning ahead of their return to Premier League action against Norwich.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side gathered at their Carrington base in the early hours, having secured a vital 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade on Thursday.
The Red Devils now stand an excellent chance of progressing to the knockout stages of the Europa League but have plenty of work to do domestically.
United are 14th ahead of this weekend’s round of matches, having not won in the Premier League since their 1-0 triumph over Leicester in September.
Defeats to West Ham and Newcastle were interspersed with 1-1 draws against Arsenal and Liverpool, meaning Sunday’s clash with struggling Norwich takes on even more importance.
United are set to fly from Manchester to East Anglia this afternoon and will hope for better conditions after a very damp start to the day.
Marcos Rojo caught the eye as he drove his neon orange Rolls Royce through the floods while Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford and David de Gea were all seen splashing through the puddles.
Solskjaer, Harry Maguire and Sergio Romero were reportedly among those who took the six-mile detour to enter via the training ground’s front entrance, avoiding the worst of the conditions.
Meanwhile, Matej Kovar was seen arriving with the rest of the squad after being included in a youthful side that travelled to Serbia in midweek.
The goalkeeper is unlikely to be included in this weekend’s squad and De Gea is expected to be fit and available, meaning Romero and Lee Grant will provide back-up.
However, the 17-year-old is one of several youngsters such as Brandon Williams, James Garner, Angel Gomes and Tahith Chong who are being introduced into the first-team set-up.
A host of injured players are set to miss this weekend’s clash with Paul Pogba, Luke Shaw, Diogo Dalot and Nemanja Matic all sidelined.
Axel Tuanzebe, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Eric Bailly are also ruled out, although the latter pair were seen arriving at Carrington as they near a return.
Speaking about his team selection after the win over Partizan, Solskjaer said: “I think the injuries made us get into a position where the performances didn’t come.
“And we had fit centre-backs, good centre-backs, quality centre-backs and it just made it easier to go to a back three against Liverpool and again today.
“We’ve got Jesse [Lingard] playing in that midfield three, we’ve got players who’ve played today for example: Sergio [Romero] played a World Cup final, Marcos [Rojo] played a World Cup final in a back three, Harry [Maguire] and Jones were involved in a back three in a semi-final. Jesse played in his position.
“Injuries have made us go into this position but it’s working quite well.”
