Manchester United have taken a 20-man squad to France for the second leg of their Europa League round of 32 clash against Saint-Etienne.
The Reds hold a three-goal advantage from the first leg at Old Trafford and United boss José Mourinho has taken a strong side as they look to see out the tie at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
The main absentee from the side that played in the first leg is Ander Herrera, who is suspended for the reverse fixture after picking up a booking against Les Verts last week. Wayne Rooney and Luke Shaw are the other two big absentees from the side that travelled to France on Tuesday night, which must now put them in doubt for the EFL Cup final against Southampton on Sunday.
Rooney has been sidelined for the past couple of games due to a muscle injury, while Shaw is fit and available for Mourinho to select, but the United boss is looking for the left-back to impress him in training before putting his back into action.
At the pre-match press conference, Mourinho explained the absences:
He [Shaw] stayed behind in Manchester because I’m playing with Daley Blind, with Marcos Rojo, with Matteo Darmian, and all of them are playing the way I like a full-back to play.
Luke has to wait for his chance and work better and better, knowing I give nothing for free. When I give something to the players, it’s expensive for them – it’s not cheap. They have to work hard every day, they have to play well, so he has to wait. And, at this moment, he’s behind the others.
I don’t know [if Rooney will be available on Sunday]. It was the first time he trained and he didn’t even train 100 per cent with the group.
You saw the first 15 minutes open to the press and yes, he was doing the warming up and the basic things after warming up, but then when the training session was high in intensity, he was not training.
So he has no chance for tomorrow, he’s not here, he stayed back training, and let’s see for the weekend.
