Manchester United central defender Raphael Varane will be out of action for several weeks due to a muscle injury and Jonny Evans will miss the weekend Premier League game at Bournemouth, the Premier League club said on Thursday.

Both players were injured in United's 4-3 Premier League loss at Chelsea last week, joining fellow defenders Lisandro Martínez and Victor Lindelof on the sidelines.

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Frenchman Varane, 30, is hoping to return before the end of the season and Evans' injury layoff is expected to be short-term, United said.

Erik ten Hag's team, sixth in the table, have been ravaged by injuries to key defenders this season.

Along with Martínez and Lindelof, left back Luke Shaw will be out of action for the next few weeks, Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have missed many games and left back Tyrell Malacia has not featured since undergoing knee surgery last year.

Man United have seven games of the campaign remaining and face a battle to qualify for Europe, with the club looking set to miss out on a place in next season's Champions League.

Information from Reuters contributed to this report.