Antony injury: Progress & potential return date for Man Utd star

Manchester United's preparations for the FA Cup final took a blow in a victory over Chelsea when winger Antony collapsed under a hefty challenge.

United cruised past the Blues 4-1 on their way to securing Champions League qualification and rested some key players for the final Premier League outing, a 2-1 success over Fulham.

It was not all good news for United and their fans, though, as the injury to Brazilian Antony against Chelsea led to him being stretchered off. Here is what is known so far about the injury.

When will Antony return from injury?

The challenge that led to Antony's injury came from Trevor Chalobah and seemed fairly innocuous. Antony was on the ground and seemed to be appealing for a free kick but it later became clear he was in immense pain, holding the area around his lower shin and ankle.

He remained on the deck as the ball was put out of play and received plenty of treatment. A stretcher was brought over but he initially looked as though he could stand and walk. He was then moved onto the stretcher and taken down the tunnel, half an hour into the game.

When asked about the 23-year-old's condition, Ten Hag said it was serious.

"I don't know. Everyone has seen he came off. I can tell you that it's serious but we have to wait minimum 24 hours and then we know probably more about the status of his injury."

Antony was not involved against Fulham and Ten Hag has now admitted there is little chance of him recovering from the ankle injury in time for the FA Cup final against Manchester City.

"Unlikely. He still has a chance but a really small chance. He didn’t make progress so it is unlikely he is available."

When asked if United have enough stars available to cope, the Dutchman added: "There were questions so many times about the absence of players. It is about the players who are available and many times we were successful. We have a good squad and from the good squad we make a good team."

Antony's first season at Man Utd

Antony arrived at Man Utd very late in the summer transfer window and given £82m was shelled out to bring him in from Ajax, expectations were high. Considering he had just moved to a new country with a huge fee on his back, Antony started superbly.

He scored in each of his first three games against Arsenal, Manchester City and Everton, but his lack of end product started to undermine his clear skill and dribbling ability. He didn't manage another Premier League goal or assist until April when he got one of each against Nottingham Forest.

Overall in his debut season for United, the winger has eight goals and three assists from 44 appearances. Those figures are a little lower than United would have been hoping, but there has been a clear development in his general forward play and it is a very good base to work from next season.

He will be disappointed to potentially miss the FA Cup final given Ten Hag has stuck with him as the starting player on the right wing for United. He almost certainly would have started the final but now the coach will need to decide what combination plays up front and on the wings with Anthony Martial also out.