Manchester United might be forced into making milestone decision as injuries mount

For a brief moment in extra-time on Sunday, it looked like Manchester United might have been about to write another chapter in their remarkable record of promoting academy graduates.

After Omari Forson became the 249th academy player to make a first-team debut in January, the countdown has been on for 250, a major milestone that will be rightly celebrated when it arrives. In a miserable season, the academy has once again offered a beacon of light.

Kobbie Mainoo has excelled since his promotion to the senior squad, Alejandro Garnacho has enjoyed a good season and Willy Kambwala has looked reasonably assured recently. Now we wait to see who will get the honour of forever being No. 250.

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As the clock ticked down on Sunday, Louis Jackson might have thought it would be him. The central defender was out going through a very low-key warm-up as Harry Maguire clutched his groin, but United had already used their four available slots to make a change, so Maguire had to carry on and Jackson went back to the bench.

There, he sat alongside fellow teenagers Harry Amass, Habeeb Ogunneye and Ethan Wheatley. That quartet must all stand a chance of featuring for the first team this week.

Not only did Maguire end the game with a groin injury, but Scott McTominay came off with a groin problem in extra-time and Marcus Rashford limped away from Wembley as well. They are queuing out of the door for the medical room at Carrington.

With just two days to recover before Wednesday's Premier League clash with Sheffield United, there is a race against time for those three to