Manchester United attacker Benjamin Sesko should play through the pain, says Wayne Rooney (Picture: Stick to United with Wayne Rooney) Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has called on Benjamin Sesko to battle through the pain and ‘play when you’re injured’ after the striker suffered a setback in his recovery from a shin issue. Sesko is yet to make a single start in the Premier League this term having been absent for the entirety of United’s pre-season schedule with the problem. The 23-year-old had appeared to be on his way back to full fitness as he found the net in United’s 2-2 draw with Everton before scoring another in the side’s Champions League group-stage victory over Sabah. But Sesko was left out of the Red Devils’ trip to Fulham last weekend and it was subsequently confirmed that the centre-forward was back on the treatment table again. Sign up for In The Mixer, Metro's football newsletter Get exclusive analysis and previews of the biggest games every Friday. Sign up now for free. As a result, Sesko was forced to withdraw from Slovenia’s squad for their upcoming Nations League matches versus Scotland (playing home and away), North Macedonia and Switzerland over the next two-and-a-half weeks. It remains to be seen if the former RB Leipzig man will be fit and firing in time for United’s return to action on October 10, when they welcome bottom-of-the-table Tottenham to Old Trafford. ‘What’s his injury? His shin? Has he broken it? You can hurt your shin, take tackles,’ Rooney said when the topic of Sesko’s latest setback was raised on Stick to United with Wayne Rooney. The Slovenian is still yet to start a league game this season (Picture: Getty) Carrick will hope to have Sesko back at his disposal after the international break (Picture: Getty) ‘I bet he’s wearing those little stupid shin pads as well or he’s got shin splints or whatever. ‘If you’re at a football club like Manchester United and you’re trying to get in the team, play as the number nine and you’ve got a game before the international break which is a must-win game and you’ve got a sore shin… and you’re not playing. ‘That’s a big part of the problem. You play when you’re injured unless you physically can’t play, you play when you’re injured.’ {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Carrick says fine margins are costing Man Utd after draw against Fulham","contentUrl":"https:\/\/videos.metro.co.uk\/video\/met\/2026\/09\/21\/218714531842277055\/480x270_MP4_218714531842277055.mp4","description":"United were fortunate to leave Craven Cottage with a point thanks to Matheus Cunha's 89th-minute deflected goal, though it was not enough to lift them out of the bottom half of the table heading into the international break.","duration":"T6M19S","height":270,"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i.dailymail.com\/1s\/2026\/09\/21\/07\/111370831-0-image-m-5_1789972669470.jpg","uploadDate":"2026-09-21T07:37:32+0100","width":480} To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page window.addEventListener('metroVideo:relatedVideosCarouselLoaded', function(data) { if (typeof(data.detail) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel) === 'undefined' || typeof(data.detail.carousel.el_) === 'undefined') { return; } var player = data.detail.carousel.el_; var container = player.closest('.metro-video-player'); var placeholder = container.querySelector('.metro-video-player__up-next-placeholder'); if (placeholder) { container.removeChild(placeholder); container.classList.add('metro-video-player--related-videos-loaded'); } }); Rooney looked back in his days as a United player, recalling how ‘five or six’ squad members at a time would receive injections from the team doctor in order to make themselves available. ‘I remember before games we’d have, you used to get injections and you used to have a doctor putting them in your arse,’ he added. ‘There would be a line of like five or si