Ruud van Nistelrooy is hopeful Amad Diallo will be fit for his final game in charge as interim Manchester United boss after the winger was forced off injured against PAOK.
United laboured in an uninspiring first-half against the Greek champions in the Europa League on Thursday night with Amad their only bright spark in that period.
The Ivory Coast international bagged a second-half brace to help his side secure their first European victory this season, first latching onto Bruno Fernandes’ cross with a looping header to find the far corner.
His second was a goal all of his own doing, brilliantly winning the ball and shrugging off his man before curling a fine effort into the corner via the aid of a slight deflection.
There was concern when Amad was forced off after 81 minutes, going down and clutching his foot as United’s medical staff tended to him.
Mason Mount came onto replace him but in encouraging signs, Amad returned to the pitch bare foot at full-time, applauding the fans and conducting an on-pitch interview with TNT Sports.
Amad will undergo further assessment before the visit of Leicester City on Sunday but van Nistelrooy is hopeful his young star will be ready to play again this weekend.
‘He had to come off, unfortunately,’ van Nistelrooy said in his post-match press conference. ‘He’s being assessed now and I hope he will be available for Sunday but we have to wait and see.’
Amad was in good spirits after the game, praising the impact van Nistelrooy has had on him having his lost his place in the side during Erik ten Hag’s final weeks in charge.
‘He’s a great character, a hard worker, he shows it in every training session,’ Van Nistelrooy said. ‘So that attitude and also extra work. Every day after training he comes to me and he wants to do extra finishing, extra crossing, extra one-vs-ones, extra how can I improve my shot, how can I improve my heading, etc. etc. etc.
‘He’s constantly focused on learning, getting better, living a very professional way so he’s very motivated to get the maximum out of his career. After so many games he didn’t start but he had a great performance today, so very pleased for him.
‘I think the second goal had everything in it. That for me is Amad Diallo. He fought to take the ball off the PAOK defender and then he pushed through to get the shot and in the end he had the quality to bend it around the goalkeeper. So that sums him up.’
