Solskjaer refuses to confirm whether De Gea will start against West Ham

A Cup Semi Final - Manchester United v Chelsea - Wembley Stadium, London, Britain - July 19, 2020 Manchester United's David de Gea looks dejected. [Pool via REUTERS/Andy Rain]

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to confirm whether David de Gea would start in goal for Manchester United against West Ham on Wednesday evening

David de Gea has been left sweating on his place – with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warning he is not afraid of making big selection calls.

Manchester United boss Solskjaer refused to confirm if De Gea will keep his place, following the goalkeeper’s latest high-profile mistakes in Sunday’s 3-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat to Chelsea.

That marks a shift in Solskjaer’s public stance on De Gea and suggests the United boss may be ready to take him out of the firing line and bring No.2 Sergio Romero into the starting line-up.

A win over West Ham will move United three points clear of top-four rivals Leicester, before they meet on Sunday in what has been billed a final day Champions League shoot-out.

Solskjaer insists he can make the big calls and said: “You have to. Every position is a big one here, so you’ve got to do what is right for the team and the club.

“We’ll do that on Wednesday, we’ll do that on Sunday, and then when the season’s finished we’ll make more decisions.”

Asked if he could confirm if De Gea starts tonight, Solskjaer said: “No, because I don’t want to talk about it. We stick together as a group.

“We’ll stay together and we’ll see the team on Wednesday night. We’ve got two games and we’re just going to focus on them.

“David’s mentally strong enough to know that his job is to perform in training the next day and then be ready for the games.

“My job is to prepare a team for West Ham. That’s what we’re doing, just focusing on that one.

“We’re not going to talk about individuals, because no-one here is going to feel that we put more pressure on them.

“Everything we talk about is between ourselves. We keep that relationship open and every player can trust me to keep that confidential.”