Louis van Gaal: 'Injury situation still the same'

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that the club's current injury problems are the same ahead of the Boxing Day clash with Stoke City.

Van Gaal, who is believed to be under increasing pressure following a run of six games without a win in all competitions, has claimed, however, that Italian right-back Matteo Darmian could return from a hamstring problem against Chelsea next Monday.

Phil Jones is expected to feature against the Potters, but Bastian Schweinsteiger is suspended and Jesse Lingard still on the sidelines.

"It's more or less the same, so there is no difference. Only that, for example, Phil Jones has played 90 minutes and had no reaction so that's a good signal," Van Gaal told MUTV.

"I think Matteo Darmian shall come [back] next week and then maybe already against Chelsea. We have to see that but, of course, we have injuries that take a long time for example [Luke] Shaw, [Antonio] Valencia and [Marcos] Rojo and you cannot change that."

Van Gaal's future at Old Trafford could reportedly be decided by Man United's next two league results.