Manchester United's potential solution is nearing his breakthrough

The count now is 15. Fifteen separate cases of injury or illness that have caused a Manchester United player to miss at least one match this season.

Three of them are, admittedly, international withdrawals. United supporters will have welcomed the breathers for Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad.

But United are a club that is going backwards before the clocks have gone back. Club sources have said Noussair Mazraoui's corrective heart procedure is, thankfully, not alarming and he is expected to be available within three weeks.

For the time being, United are left with one available full back again. The full back is, of course, Diogo Dalot. He has missed only eight United games in three years through injury since returning from an eye-opening year on loan at AC Milan.

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Erik ten Hag has had to cope without a senior specialist left back for the best part of a year. Fans' patience with Luke Shaw has snapped but Tyrell Malacia is getting involved in team training warm-ups. Ten Hag's pre-season prediction of an early October return always seemed fanciful.

He uttered another prediction about another left back during the same discussion. It was the final question of our sit-down with him at UCLA: could Harry Amass play for the first team next season?

"We have to make progress," Ten Hag said. "But we all see here a potential where we have seen in previous years. For instance two years ago, Garnacho last season. We had it during last season with Kobbie, but he (Amass) is not that far now at this moment.

"But if we train him well, if we coach him well, then in three months it's possible that he can be on that point. But in this moment he needs to catch up and he has to develop some skills already to play for Manchester United, competing for the highest positions in the league.

"But with big talent it can go up very quickly and that is very interesting to see if he is capable of doing this."

That was on August 1. November 1 is 18 days away and United host Leicester in the League Cup on October 30. That is an obvious opportunity to recall Amass.

The 17-year-old has been an unused substitute seven times already. He has watched from the dugout as United battled to a draw with Liverpool, almost gave it away against Coventry and surrendered at Crystal Palace.

Ten Hag seldom does weakened teams. With the League Cup third round tie against Barnsley boxed off by half-time, he introduced Mazraoui, Bruno Fernandes and Joshua Zirkzee on the hour when United were 5-0 up. They annihilated the League One team 7-0.

Ethan Wheatley, afforded a few cameos last season, was an unused substitute. Amass was surprisingly omitted from the Community Shield matchday squad when he had been the breakout performer of United's pre-season tour, starting against Arsenal, Real Betis and Liverpool.

Amass was believed to be piqued that he never got on for his debut last season. There were some rueful grins when Wheatley's status as the 250th academy graduate to debut was brought up in the mixed zone in San Diego in July. Amass was sandwiched between Wheatley and Toby Collyer, the 251st against City.

Midfielder Collyer made his full debut at Barnsley at left back, where he predictably struggled. That should have irked Amass when Ten Hag could easily have accommodated both in the same starting XI against the 55th-placed side in the English football pyramid.

Amass has seldom figured in first team training since he recovered from his tour jet lag. His starting role in the EFL Trophy at Doncaster was prioritised over selection as a substitute with benches expanded in the Europa League against Twente. Amass has only been drafted into senior sessions when players have been on international duty or on a recovery day.

Amass has been away from Carrington this week with England Under 18s. He came on in their 2-0 friendly defeat to Sweden in Marbella and they face Ukraine on Monday. Ample time to report back at base to prepare for Brentford's arrival on Saturday.

With three full backs still likely to be unavailable, Ten Hag will doubtless pick Dalot and Victor Lindelof, who played as an auxiliary left back nine times last term. Time is running out for Lindelof, out of contract in June. Amass at least has time on his side.

Ten Hag's judgement at left back has come under greater scrutiny through Alvaro Fernandez's impact at Benfica, for whom he was the man of the match in their 4-0 Champions League thrashing of Atletico Madrid. Fernandez, United's reserve player of the year in 2021-22, did not go on Ten Hag's first tour and did not get a kick on the second despite an encouraging season-long loan at Preston.

He made the United bench once under Ten Hag, who favoured the supine Sergio Reguilon, an 11th-hour loanee. Fernandez is Benfica's starting left back. Reguilon travelled with Tottenham to Ferencvaros last week as a training player.

He had been excluded from their Europa League squad.