Manchester United make Teden Mengi decision vs Brighton amid defensive injury crisis

Manchester United centre-back Teden Mengi is not set to make Manchester United's squad to play Brighton in the FA Cup semi-final this weekend.

Erik ten Hag is currently dealing with an injury crisis at the club and he's set to be without Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane against Brighton through injury, whilst Harry Maguire is also not available for selection due to suspension.

Mengi is a central defender, but it's understood that he's still in the process of recovering from the injury which forced him to be stretched off the pitch in a friendly against Real Betis in December.

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The 20-year-old has not trained with the main group this week and he won't be involved against Sevilla or Brighton.

Mengi has not played since sustaining that injury during the warm-weather training camp in Spain in December. He returned to first-team training at Carrington in March, but he's still yet to be considered fit enough to play for the Under-21s.

Although the U21s' match against Leicester on Monday night was earmarked by staff as the ideal opportunity for Mengi to play his first game in four months, he was not included in the squad and the wait for his return to action continues.

Mengi was set to leave the club on loan in the January transfer window but his injury denied a move. He is contracted to United until the summer of 2024 and another temporary spell away from the club is expected this summer.

Luke Shaw, who has already been deployed as a centre-back on a few occasions this season, is set to start alongside Victor Lindelof in central defence against Brighton in the semi-final at Wembley on Sunday afternoon.

Maguire is unavailable for the cup game after