Wayne Rooney not included in Manchester United squad heading to Rostov for UEFA Europa League tie but Henrikh Mkhitaryan does make trip
* Manchester United are flying out to Rostov for their Europa League tie
* Captain Wayne Rooney not included in the 20-man travelling squad
* Henrikh Mkhitaryan has recovered well enough from his injury to travel
* Eric Bailly is suspended for the first leg of the last 16 tie at the Olimp-2 Stadium
Wayne Rooney has not been included in the Manchester United squad travelling to Russia for their UEFA Europa League tie with Rostov.
The United captain was not among the 20-player party who flew out of Manchester Airport, bound for Rostov-on-Don in south-west Russia, on Tuesday afternoon.
Rooney may be needed when United play Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Monday night, because Zlatan Ibrahimovic has accepted a three-match ban following his elbow on Bournemouth's Tyrone Mings at the weekend.
Wayne Rooney drives to Manchester United's training ground at Carrington on Tuesday morning - but he won't be making the trip to Rostov in the UEFA Europa League
Left-back Luke Shaw and midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger are also not included, while defender Eric Bailly is suspended following his red card in the second leg of United's last-32 tie with Saint-Etienne.
However, Jose Mourinho and his team are boosted by the return of Henrikh Mkhitaryan following the hamstring injury the Armenian suffered in France.
26-goal leading scorer Ibrahimovic is also included as he remains eligible for European competition despite his domestic suspension.
Rostov is uncharted territory for the Reds, though it is around 470km from Volgograd, where United played in the UEFA Cup back in 1995. Their other three visits to the country have been to Moscow.
United will play at the 15,000-capacity Olimp-2 Stadium in Rostov-on-Don on Thursday night, with around 400 of their fans making the round trip of some 3,744 miles from Manchester.
Club officials have been warned not to wear colours of attract attention to themselves while in Rostov for fear of being targeted by hooligans.
Russia has a serious hooligan problem and United officials are conscious that English fans may be set upon following events in Marseille at the European Championship last year.
The travelling fans have been told to remain on two streets, which will be guarded by police, and to use the shuttle buses laid on to escort them to the stadium.
Rostov, who are currently seventh in the Russian Premier League table, thrashed bottom side Tom Tomsk 6-0 on their return following the winter break on Friday night.
The club qualified for the Champions League for the first time this season, having beaten Anderlecht and Ajax in qualifying rounds.
They ultimately finished third in Group D below Bayern Munich - whom they beat 3-2 at home - and Atletico Madrid, but ahead of PSV Eindhoven.
In the Europa League round of 32, they beat Czech side Sparta Prague 5-1 on aggregate.
The long distance draw is something of a nightmare for United, who play at Mourinho's former club Chelsea in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Monday night and then play the return with Rostov at Old Trafford next Thursday night.
United have included 20-year-old goalkeeper Kieran O'Hara in their 20-man squad.
The Manchester-born stopper has yet to make a first-team appearance for the Old Trafford club, whom he joined as a youth team player in 2012 from local club Urmston Town.
During his time with the club, O'Hara has had loan spells at Trafford, AFC Fylde, Morecambe, Stockport County and Morecambe.
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