Manchester United injury news: Luke Shaw primed for early return as recovery gains pace

Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw is recovering sooner-than-expected and is on course to playing in the final few games of the season and salvage his place in Roy Hodgson's squad to travel for the European Championships next year. The 20-year-old suffered a double fracture on his right leg after coming on the end of a horrific tackle by Hector Moreno in their game against PSV Eindoven in the group stages of the Champions League.

The Sunday Mirror reports that Shaw is already able to walk without crutches, which is boding well for his recovery and the defender can reclaim his spot in the first team and avoid missing the rest of the season. It will come as a welcome boost for Louis van Gaal, whose side are showing signs of a title challenge, having seen off a quarter of the season keeping in touching distance of the league leaders.

Shaw had been in brilliant form since the start of the season and was crowned the player of the month for August before the debacle. Van Gaal, owing to the lack of a direct replacement for Shaw at left-back, has been shifting his resources to get the perfect replacement at the back, with Marcos Rojo, Ashley Young and Daley Blind all given an opportunity to show their credentials.

However, his players have managed to live up to the task and the Dutchman has been vindicated by the performance of his defence in recent games, currently with the best defensive record in the league alongside Arsenal. They have also conceded the lowest number of goals at home, including being able to draw Manchester City in a goalless game at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are back to goalscoring ways, putting two past West Bromwich Albion to bring the gap down to a solitary point with leaders Manchester City and Arsenal. Jesse Lingard scored the first goal, while Juan Mata slotted home the second after Anthony Martial won a penalty with a run in the West Brom penalty box.