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Manchester United’s defensive unit had been riddled with injuries, especially at this moment and time when the Premier League has boiled down to virtually every game being a final.
Erik ten Hag heads to Bournemouth on Saturday without 6 senior defenders, which leaves his defensive options extremely fickle.
In fact the only fit senior centre backs at his disposal for Saturday’s clash are Harry Maguire and Willy Kambwala who is not exactly senior being 19 and having only made his full debut this season.
As such the United manager has had to call up talented U18s defender Jack Kingdon to cover for all the defensive deficiencies.
This comes right after the club on Thursday night confirmed both Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane will be out for a few weeks with muscle injuries they picked up at Chelsea last week, effectively missing the Bournemouth clash.
Kingdon has been at the club since November 2020 signing for a six-figure fee after impressing during a two-week trial period.
After being deployed in a variety of positions, the 6’1″ youngster settled at centre-back and is highly-regarded by United staff. He has made 21 appearances for the United academy this year, including 13 starts for the U18s.
A promotion to the first team is always a very significant moment in any player’s career, and the young Scott will be hoping ten Hag gives him some minutes come Saturday.
This will not be the first time ten Hag has been forced to call up youth players to cover for the squad numbers in the senior team on account of injuries.
Both Harry Amass, a 17-year-old left-back, and Habeeb Ogunneye, an 18-year-old right-back, made the substitutes bench against Liverpool.
