Manchester United duo Adnan Januzaj and Guillermo Varela both injured in 7-0 U21 rout of Norwich

Manchester United suffered a double injury blow during the U21 Premier League demolition of Norwich on 8 February. Warren Joyce's side ran out comprehensive 7-0 winners at Old Trafford courtesy of a hugely impressive five-goal haul from striker Will Keane and further efforts from Andreas Pereira and Timothy Fosu-Mensah, but saw both Adnan Januzaj and Guillermo Varela limp off before half-time.

According to the Mirror, Januzaj, who has made just one senior substitute appearance for the club since returning from a disappointing loan spell at Borussia Dortmund four months early, went down holding his knee in the early stages and came back on only to be further bothered by a hamstring complaint. He was replaced by Matthew Willock and a second change arrived shortly afterwards when Fosu-Mensah came on for Varela after the Uruguayan right-back appeared to hurt his ankle.

United fielded a very strong team for the match, with the aforementioned duo joined in the starting lineup by Sergio Romero and Pereira. Memphis Depay also featured from the off after being limited to a late 10-minute cameo during the first team's 1-1 draw at Chelsea last weekend, while Phil Jones played almost an hour as he bids to recover his full match fitness.

The versatile defender recently returned to training after missing seven matches with ankle ligament damage suffered during the first half of a win over Swansea in January.

The severity of the injuries sustained by Januzaj and Varela is not yet known. Louis van Gaal is already without the services of Ashley Young, who is currently out of action after picking up a serious groin problem against Liverpool. Marcos Rojo could be back later this month as he continues to recover from a dislocated shoulder and Antonio Valencia is said to be progressing well after undergoing foot surgery in November.

Like former Preston loanee Keane and 17-year-old defender Regan Poole, long-term absentee Luke Shaw was recently included in United's 24-man squad for the knockout stages of the Europa League, almost five months after suffering a double fracture of his right leg in a Champions League tie at PSV Eindhoven. His manager has since clarified that his ambition should be to play in the final, if indeed they progress that far. Experienced midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger also remains sidelined due to an ongoing knee injury.