Athletic Bilbao hit by triple injury blow ahead of Manchester United second leg

Both Inaki and Nico Williams have been ruled out of the Europa League semi-final

Brothers Nico (left) and Inaki Williams will miss the trip to Old Trafford (Getty Images)

Athletic Bilbao have suffered a triple injury blow ahead of the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Manchester United with Nico and Inaki Williams plus top scorer Oihan Sancet all ruled out.

The trio were missing from the 24-man travelling squad named by Ernesto Valverde on Wednesday morning, with Athletic announcing that Inaki Williams - who has 11 goals and nine assists this season - has suffered a hamstring injury.

His younger brother Nico, who also has netted 11 goals, has been dealing with a groin problem.

Sancet, who leads the charts with 17 goals, missed last week's first leg with a hamstring problem and has been unable to recover in time for the reverse fixture.

United were already strong favourites to advance to the final after a brace from Bruno Fernandes and a Casemiro goal gave them a 3-0 win in Bilbao in last week's first leg.

Bilbao travelled to Manchester on Wednesday morning ahead of a training session at Old Trafford as they look to overturn a significant deficit.

This year’s Europa League final will be played at the San Mames, the Basque side’s home ground. Bodo/Glimt take on Tottenham in the other semi-final, with the Norwegian side 3-1 behind.

PA