Team News: Reading (FA Cup)
Manchester United manager José Mourinho has confirmed that Wayne Rooney and Sergio Romero will start the Reds’ FA Cup third-round encounter against Reading at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Bastian Schweinsteiger will also be involved in the matchday squad, whether it is ‘from the start or on the bench’, according to the United manager.
Mourinho has the luxury of a full squad to base his selection on, with the exception of defender Eric Bailly, who is away on international duty with the Ivory Coast for the African Cup of Nations.
United captain Rooney has been sidelined for a week after picking up a problem in the leadup to the Reds’ Boxing Day victory over Sunderland, while Luke Shaw is also available for selection, having been out of action since mid-November.
With a plethora of options available to him and a busy schedule coming up, with the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final against Hull City and a pivotal clash in the Premier League with Liverpool in the next week, Mourinho said that he would be making several changes for Saturday’s clash against Jaap Stam’s side.
In his pre-match interview with MUTV, he said:
There are zero injuries. Zero injuries! We have 27 players and zero injuries.
During the season, we have never had big, big problems with that. We had the normal amount of injuries that happen all the time but, in this moment, we have zero. We have every player available apart from Bailly, who is in the African Cup [of Nations].
Yes, we have to rest players. Some players, they need a little rest. Many players, they need to play. Many players deserve to play. I trust them all. I know that, if I change three or four players in the team, some people will say there is a risk. Some people will say we do that because it is a Championship team but Reading is better than some Premier League teams.
The risk is only if we face the game with the wrong attitude, with the wrong frame of mind. If the players go into the game feeling the responsibility and the desire that they are showing match after match, then we have a good chance to win, even if we give some players a rest and some others a chance.