Mason Mount could return for Manchester United against Aston Villa

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick says Mason Mount has taken a “big step” and could return from a two-month absence against Aston Villa this weekend.

The 27-year-old midfielder had been enjoying his best run with the Red Devils earlier this season having endured a frustrating stop-start time since swapping Stamford Bridge for Old Trafford in 2023.

Mount began Carrick’s first game in charge against Manchester City on January 17 but has since been lied low since with an unspecified issue that the head coach initially indicated would not keep him out for long.

The lay-off has dragged on and the England international’s absence from open training this week raised further concern, although there is a chance he could return against Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

“Mason’s back with the group, which is fantastic,” Carrick said as United return to action for the first time since losing 2-1 – his first defeat in charge – at Newcastle last Wednesday.

“He’s an important player for us, Mason, and to have him back and involved I think is a good step for us definitely.

“He’s not 100 per cent in terms of (being) back because he’s only trained with us a very small amount of time, but he’s back and that’s good for us.

“We’ll see whether he’s involved or not on Sunday but it’s a big step for him, so we’re happy with that. That’s it in terms of players coming back for now.”

Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and Patrick Dorgu remain absent for United, who take on a Villa side that will be unable to call upon Jadon Sancho against his parent club.

The 25-year-old failed to reach the heights expected when he joined United from Borussia Dortmund for £73million in 2021 after a prolonged pursuit, leading to a loan back to his former club before spells with Chelsea and Villa.

Carrick was part of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s coaching staff when Sancho arrived and the attacking midfielder scored two goals in the former midfielder’s three matches in interim charge in 2021.

“You can never be surprised with anything in football,” he said of the attacking midfielder, whose deal expires this summer but has the option for a further year.

“It’s one of those things. Sometimes you come to a club and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t quite work. That’s natural. It happens at every club.

“Jadon’s got talent. That’s why he came to the club to start with and he’s had some really good moments.

“For whatever reason – I don’t know, I’ve not been here for a period of time – he’s then finding himself at Aston Villa.

“He had obviously a good spell at Dortmund as well and the Champions League final, so he’s certainly got talent and he’s playing a lot this season so credit to him for that.

“He’s having an impact and playing a lot of games but what happens next and moving forward then we’ll just have to wait and see.”

One familiar face that will be involved this weekend is Morgan Rogers, who impressed under Carrick at Middlesbrough and has gone onto take “huge steps” to become a key player for club and country.

“There were a lot of things there when we took him to start with but to see him go on and have such an impact would be probably more than I would have expected or probably more than Morgan himself would have expected,” he said.

“It is great to see though. I enjoy seeing him do so well. To come up against him is a different story. Nevertheless, he is a good person, great to work with so I am delighted he has done so well.”