Losing Marcus Rashford for three months is a disaster of Manchester United's own making after failing to restock their forward line... now Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must scramble around in the transfer market or put his faith in Mason Greenwood
* Man United face a shortage of firepower after Marcus Rashford's back injury
* Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's gamble to bring Rashford on against Wolves backfired
* Rashford aggravated an existing back problem and now faces three months out
* He is United's leading goalscorer this season with 19 goals in all competitions
* Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood and others will need to make up shortfall
* Solskjaer hinted he may have to dip into the transfer market to get a striker
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had to make a judgement call in the moment, a decision based on the increasing stress of the situation.
And, like with much at Manchester United right now, it has spectacularly backfired on him.
It was the 64th minute of United's FA Cup third round replay with Wolves at Old Trafford and the scores were locked stubbornly at 0-0.
Marcus Rashford could be sidelined for up to three months after suffering a back injury. Rashford lasted just 16 minutes after coming on during United's FA Cup win over Wolves. Losing his leading goalscorer for so long comes as an enormous blow to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
This was a game Solskjaer couldn't afford to lose in the context of United's season of almost constant mini-boom and immediate bust.
With his team not really any closer to the Premier League top four and facing exit in the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup could well offer Solskjaer salvation this season.
That's why he turned to the bench and his leading goalscorer, Marcus Rashford, to try and keep United's hopes of silverware alive.
It was a risk, with Solskjaer knowing that his star striker had been suffering from a back complaint. But on Rashford came for Daniel James anyway and United scored their winner through Juan Mata three minutes later.
A further 13 minutes on and Rashford was heading off the field and straight down the tunnel, holding his back in severe discomfort.
We now know that Rashford has a double stress fracture of the back and will be sidelined for up to three months. Solskjaer must be cursing his misfortune as United enter a crucial phase of their season.
Rashford has been in excellent form this season for United, scoring 19 goals in all competitions. United somehow need to find a way to compensate for Rashford's goal in his absence
It's obvious that Rashford has been struggling with this problem for some time, playing through the pain at times with a wince, and he clearly needed this spell of rest and rehabilitation.
Playing against Wolves was the final trigger that made the injury worse but, in fairness to Solskjaer, it seems this could have happened in any game.
'He'll be out for a while. He won't be back until after the mid-season break [next month],' confirmed the United boss after Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool.
'It's normally six weeks to heal, but I'm not a doctor, then he needs rehab after that probably. He's had some trouble before and we are going to give him time to recover and rest before we put him back on the pitch.'
Rashford is United's top scorer this season with 19 goals in all competitions. The next highest is Anthony Martial on 11, then Mason Greenwood on nine. They - and others - will be forced to pick up the slack.
It will predominantly fall on Martial now to deliver the goals needed. The Frenchman is in decent form, scoring against Newcastle, Burnley and Norwich in recent weeks, but is nowhere near as hot as Rashford was.
That showed at Anfield when Martial blazed over a glorious opportunity to bring United level at 1-1 during the second-half.
Anthony Martial rues missing a golden chance in United's 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. The Frenchman was clean through but skied his shot with just Liverpool keeper Alisson to beat
The miss drew a typically scathing reaction from former United captain and Sky Sports pundit Roy Keane.
'Martial, to me that sums up his career in a nutshell at Manchester United, you have to hit the target,' he said.
'That's why that guy there is not good enough for Man United.'
There's a sense that the jury remains out on Martial, who was regarded as one of the brightest young talents in Europe when United signed him from Monaco for an initial £36million, rising to a possible £58m, in 2015.
It seems he has failed to match the promise of his first season at Old Trafford, when he hit 17 goals, and has barely scraped into double figures in the past three campaigns.
Once so sharp in one-on-one situations, Martial's miss on Sunday spoke of a striker devoid of confidence but now he has to stand up and be counted.
James, who could well play in Rashford's position during his absence, has largely looked the part in a United shirt since his summer arrival from Swansea.
It may be a concern that the 22-year-old hasn't scored since late August but he has contributed seven assists and his first season at Old Trafford is likely to be judged a positive start.
Daniel James has shown plenty of promise during his first season in a United shirt
Struggling Jesse Lingard is unlikely to score many goals to compensate for Rashford's absence
We'll maybe see a bit more of Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata in the weeks to come but there's little faith either will provide the goals needed to compensate for Rashford's absence.
Lingard's goal and assist drought in the Premier League, which dates back to January 29 last year, has become the butt of many opposition fan jokes.
So all this leaves the very real possibility that United will be relying heavily on 18-year-old Mason Greenwood to score the goals to keep their ambitions alive in the Premier League, FA Cup and Europa League.
Greenwood is young and raw but already looks the real deal. His finishing, especially into the bottom corner of the goal, is laser-guided. He already has 11 goals in what looks like a fine breakthrough season.
Solskjaer is likely to give him a lot more game time in Rashford's absence and it remains to see if he can handle the heightened burden of expectation. He has done so far.
Mason Greenwood, 18, is enjoying a fine breakthrough season having scored 11 goals so far. Solskjaer is likely to place more faith in his young tyro in the absence of Rashford
United are now paying the price for a complete lack of strategy and foresight in the transfer market last summer.
They allowed both Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez to leave for Inter Milan and failed to sign any attacking reinforcements. Lukaku has scored 18 times for Inter this season.
It smacks, once again, of scrambled, off the cuff decision-making from the top of the club downwards.
It's fortunate for Solskjaer, really, that United got through until late January without this kind of major injury leaving them woefully under-staffed up front.
The Norwegian admitted that United may have to dip into the transfer market to bring in a short-term attacking solution.
But given how they're currently struggling to get a deal for midfielder Bruno Fernandes over the line, it doesn't inspire hope they can find a 15-goal striker at reasonable cost in the next 11 days.
This frantic search for a stop-gap comes hot on the heels of United's failure to sign Erling Haaland, who opted to join Borussia Dortmund from Red Bull Salzburg.
This despite Solskjaer being his former coach, a compatriot and having close ties to Haaland's family.
In the cold light of day, Haaland probably saw the dire situation at Old Trafford and said 'no thank you.'
As he prepares to spearhead Dortmund's assault on the league title, they also can look forward to a last-16 Champions League tie with Paris Saint-Germain as United themselves had a year ago.
Solskjaer, a hostage to bad fortune, would give quite a lot to stand in their shoes right now.
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