Manchester United hope Lisandro Martínez will be fit to return at the end of March after establishing that the injury which forced the defender off against West Ham was not an ­anterior cruciate ligament tear as feared. Martínez has sustained an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and will not require ­surgery. The aim at United is to have him back after next month’s ­international break meaning he will miss at least seven games; that will rise to eight if the team make it to the FA Cup quarter-finals. In a statement released on Monday the club said: “Lisandro has sustained an injury to the medial collateral ligament in his knee and is expected to be out of action for at least eight weeks.” Although the news is better than it appeared to be when Erik ten Hag said on Sunday that the injury “seems bad” and was a “disaster” for ­Martínez, it ­continues a difficult season for the Argentina international. Martínez was out from late September to ­mid-­January due to a foot injury, with the game against West Ham being only his fourth back and 10th appearance of the campaign. On Monday night Martínez posted on X: “I want to give a heartfelt thanks for the great support I’ve received and to reassure you that I’ll soon be back out there, and we’ll fight together. Always united!” Meanwhile Alejandro Garnacho, who scored twice in the 3-0 win over the Hammers at Old Trafford, called on United to use their momentum to target the Champions League places. “I am always trying to help by either scoring or assisting,” he said. “I don’t care if Rasmus [Højlund] or [Marcus] Rashford scores, I think we have to win and be in the top six again.”