Manchester United injury list: Chris Smalling is the 43rd time a player in Louis van Gaal's squad has been injured

Defender was injured in the 2-1 win against Southampton

(Reuters)

Chris Smalling became the latest player to be hit with Manchester United's injury curse after he was substituted in the win against Southampton on Monday night.

Smalling, who had been finding some form in recent weeks, had to be replaced after just 18 minutes with a suspected muscle tear in the 2-1 victory; the England centre-back is likely to be assessed at some point on Tuesday.

The injury was, astoundingly, the 43rd Louis van Gaal has suffered since he took over at Old Trafford in the summer.

The 25-year-old was replaced by Jonny Evans, who made his return to first-team action after a spell on the sidelines. Evans played for the first time since United were humiliated by Leicester on 21 September.

Speaking after the game, Evans said that the players are now "expecting" someone to get injured.

"The way the injury situation has been you're always expecting someone to get injured. So I had to prepare myself mentally for that," he told Sky Sports.

Smalling has joined Angel Di Maria, Luke Shaw, Daley Blind, Rafael, Phil Jones and Jesse Lingard on the sidelines.