And Fabian Schär has also suffered a setback in his return from an ankle injury, with the defender now ruled out for a further month after undergoing a 'small operation.'

United have had three weeks to digest their Tyne-Wear derby defeat to Sunderland, with Eddie Howe facing the press on Friday for the first time since the immediate aftermath of that game against the Black Cats.

During that time, it was announced that Kieran Trippier will leave the club at the end of his contract this summer and Howe was effusive in his praise of the 35-year-old. But his main focus was on Palace this weekend; here are some of his pre-match thoughts.

On injury news ahead of Palace...

"We've had mixed injury news, I'd say, during the break. We certainly look stronger than we did going into the Sunderland game where we had a number of absentees.

"Bruno (Guimarães) suffered, as probably the majority know, from mumps on his return from Brazil. That's delayed his return, so he will not be involved in this game. I think there's probably a doubt over the Bournemouth game as well for him - no injury concern, more just the illness stopped him doing some key work we needed him to do to be considered for these games. He may be the game after, but it's important he comes back when he's ready.

"Fabian, unfortunately, suffered an infection in his foot so he's been in hospital having a very small operation to get that cleaned out. He won't return for around a month, we think, so that's bad news on him. On everybody else, we're pretty good. Lewy (Miley)'s trained and trained well with us so that's a big thing for us to see because we've missed him massively. Then of course you add Sandro (Tonali) who played during the international break anyway with his injury from the Sunderland game. Others are in a good place."

On the Eagles...

"It's always interesting when you watch teams ebb and flow in terms of momentum. We've been victims of that ourselves this season - we've gone into good spells and then we've struggled to back that up consistently.

"Crystal Palace is always a tough game, home or away. I watched them, of course, last night, and watched them in preparation for this game. They're a very well organised team, they've got a superb coach and some really good, dangerous players so we'll have to be at our best. It's always a difficult game at Selhust Park."

On a three week break since the Sunderland game...

"I think the break probably came at a good time for us, on reflection. At the time I felt we wanted to play as soon as we could, but I think it gave the players a chance to detach. The majority went away internationally, so a different focus for them.

"For us that were here, there was a group of six players that we trained with and all the staff, we were very much focused on reflection and analysis and team performances, so we've gone into a very analytical mode to try and focus on the next seven games and try and get back to our very best form.

"Very quickly, our focus went to that. Criticism's part of when you lose big games like that. You know that's part of the deal and we've had to take that and are fully prepared to do so."

On Kieran Trippier...

"Kieran's handled himself superbly during this period. He came to see me and we had a discussion. He had a clear vision of what he saw his future looking like. We respected that and wanted him to get the best reception and reaction for his time here.

"For me, he goes down as one of the best players that's played for me, without a doubt, in my time here. He has been a model of consistency; he's had, behind the scenes, that will to win and that win to help us prepare the best we can. He's been outstanding on the pitch, a really good leader, and he deserves to go with all the plaudits and we just hope he can finish the season off on a real high."

On United's European ambitions...

"It has to be (a motivator). We shouldn't need extra motivation - the games are big enough in the Premier League as they are. Pride's at stake, we want to do our supporters proud in these last seven games, we want to go right to the end of the season. But if there is a carrot for us, it's European places. The gap's small between us and the teams ahead of us so that's a big thing for us to try and chase down."