Harry Maguire joins Manchester United injury list and won’t travel for Bayern Munich clash as Harry Kane defends teammate

Harry Maguire has not travelled with the Manchester United squad to face Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

The former Red Devils captain is absent through injury says the club, although the specifics are not known.

GettyMaguire is injured and won’t face Bayern[/caption]

Maguire didn’t feature in the weekend’s 3-1 loss to Brighton, and has only played 23 club minutes so far this season, in a 3-1 defeat to Arsenal.

He’s in fact featured more for England, playing 135 minutes across fixtures against Ukraine and Scotland.

That has seen England manager Gareth Southgate have to defend his trusted stalwart, and ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash, live on talkSPORT, Harry Kane, has backed the under fire defender, labelling him as one of England’s greatest ever defenders.

“I think H has come under some really unnecessary scrutiny,” Kane said before the game.

“Probably been scapegoated a little bit in terms of the way the team has gone over recent times.

“He is a really good friend of mine, he’s a great guy, a really hard-working professional.

“From an England point of view, he has been one of our best defenders and one of the best defenders in the history of our country in an England shirt.

“It’s part of our game now, it’s part of football. You get scrutinised all over social media but knowing him, all he will want to do is work harder and improve and stay focused.

Kane is a big Maguire fan, but won’t face him on WednesdayGetty

“We’re fully behind him in the national team. I know the coach has come out and backed him fully.

“There’s always going to be noise around players but the most important thing is that we have a really strong core with England and that’s the most important thing going into big games and big tournaments.”

Without the 30-year-old, United have named a 21-man squad for the trip to Bavaria, with four new summer signings all on the plane.

Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana and Sergio Reguilon are all likely to feature, while Altay Bayindir will be available as to back-up Onana.

The fixture is one of the most anticipated of the 2023/24 group stages, with two titans of European football very much not at their best.

Former Tottenham man Harry Kane will also be facing an English side again for the first time since his summer move to Munich. He has five goals against in 19 games against the Red Devils.