Lisandro Martinez faces up to two more months out of action with damaged knee ligaments but won’t need surgery, it has emerged.<br /><br />Martinez limped out of Sunday’s 3-0 win over West Ham, at Old Trafford with an injury to his right knee, after it buckled under the weight of Vladimír Coufal, as they tangled in the 66th minute.<br /><br />The United defender tried to carry on for a few minutes but went down again in some distress and was immediately replaced by Raphael Varane.<br /><br />Martinez had scans on Monday and initial reports in Argentina that he has damaged the collateral ligament in the knee but not his cruciate ligament have now been confirmed.<br /><br />The 26-year-old player won’t require an operation but the damage will take between one-and-a-half to two months to heal.<br /><br />That means Martinez may miss up to another nine games of a season blighted by an injury that has brought just 10 appearances since August. <br /><br />Sunday was only the fourth game – and third start – of Martinez’s comeback from a four-month lay-off following a second operation on the broken foot he suffered in a Europa League tie against Sevilla last April.<br /><br />His performances since returning against Tottenham in mid-January have reminded United fans what a key player he is for Erik ten Hag.<br /><br />Faced with the prospect of losing the Argentine for another lengthy spell, the United manager said: ‘It doesn’t look good, so there’s a big concern. <br /><br />'We have to wait for the diagnosis, then we can tell you more.<br /><br />‘He is very sad, very disappointed. We are with him. It’s a personal disaster. He is just returning. He is very important to us.<br /><br />'He brings spirit to the team, aside from his football ability. Hopefully, it is not too bad, we can only pray.<br /><br />‘He worked so hard to return and now, after four games, it looks like he has to sit some games out again.’
