The Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo could be back in less than six weeks despite dislocating his left shoulder in last weekend’s Manchester derby.

The Argentina international was carried off during United’s 1-0 defeat at Manchester City and it was feared he could miss up to three months.

However, Louis van Gaal confirmed on Friday at a press conference for Saturday’s meeting with Crystal Palace that Rojo should be back in contention before the new year.

The Manchester United manager said: “Rojo dislocated his shoulder but he did it as positive a way as you can. We do not need him to have an operation, so that is a relief but maybe with this injury it is very likely that it can happen again and that is the problem. There is the risk it can happen again.

“The human body is made by God, not me. But it can be less than six weeks.”