Marcos Rojo confident of making Manchester United return in the New Year

Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo admits his injury-hit start to life at Old Trafford has been frustrating but hopes to return to the first team in the New Year.

Rojo, 24, suffered a dislocated shoulder in November's Manchester derby but returned on 8 December against Southampton, only to suffer a fresh problem on the eve of his side's 3-1 win over Liverpool on 21 December.

While manager Louis van Gaal has been reluctant to reveal a return date for the Argentine defender, the player himself is hoping to be back in action in the coming weeks having been forced to watch the club's festive period from the sidelines.

"It's something you never want to go through," Rojo explained to United's official website. "You always want to be out there playing on the field, helping your teammates.

"I've had the misfortune to get injured recently and I really don't like it. It's terrible to miss training and be out of the team. I just hope I can regain my full fitness quickly and it doesn't happen again, as it's never good being injured."

Rojo has missed games against Liverpool, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur this month but there is to be no immediate let up in the club's busy fixture spell. United travel to Stoke City on New Year's Day before taking on Yeovil Town in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday (4 January).

And while the former Sporting Lisbon defender is unlikely to be in contention for those two ties, he is confident his return will come soon.

"Certainly there are a lot of games coming quickly, one after another," he said. "That's what I want, to get fit as quickly as possible so I can lend a hand to the team.

"The manager is going to want as many players as possible for this busy period. It's an important part of the season with so many games in quick succession."

Van Gaal has also confirmed this week that Ander Herrera is poised to return and may feature against Stoke at the Britannia Stadium on Thursday.