Manchester United manager José Mourinho has ruled out a return for Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan ahead of the Reds’ second Europa League group game against Zorya Luhansk on Thursday.
The United manager also hinted that captain Wayne Rooney may sit out the clash at Old Trafford after suffering a back injury in training, also explaining that the media’s recent focus on the 30-year-old meant that he couldn’t afford a bad performance on his return having been dropped to the bench against Leicester City at the weekend.
Mourinho also confirmed that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will definitely start against the Ukrainian side and Anthony Martial will be available for selection after recovering from a calf injury he picked up against Watford a week ago.
Daley Blind is also likely to continue at left-back for United, with Shaw missing training on Wednesday after being sent home ill.
Mourinho said in the pre-match press conference:
He’s ill. He has a temperature, a fever, a bad throat and he arrived this morning and immediately the doctor sent him home because one player like this in the middle of the other ones can affect others so he went home.
When asked about Rooney’s condition, the United boss turned his ire on the media, saying:
Wayne Rooney is selected. I haven’t decide yet if I start with him. He didn’t train yesterday, he did just a little bit of the session on Monday. He had a back problem so today [Wednesday] was the first time that he had a training session with the other players and today is the training session where the intensity and the complexity is obviously reduced because we have a game tomorrow.
So I was completely convinced of playing him tomorrow from the beginning, but with this situation in the last couple of days I am not sure I’ll do that. Because with the situation that you create for him I think he really can’t afford to have a performance that is not really good.
I am here to protect him and not to put him in difficult situations. I have to analyse if the best thing for him is to start the game and if he is not totally ready for it. So I am going to discuss that with him and the medical staff and decide if he starts or if he is on the bench.
United will be looking to kick-start their Europa League campaign with three points, having fallen to a dismal defeat on the opening matchday against Feyenoord in Rotterdam.
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