MOURINHO'S INJURY UPDATE AHEAD OF BURNLEY
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has provided a team news update ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Burnley, admitting the team’s defensive injury problems are mounting.
Marcos Rojo was taken off on a stretcher in the first half of Thursday’s Europa League extra-time win over Anderlecht and, while the club are yet to confirm the extent of the problem, there are concerns he could join fellow centre-backs Phil Jones and Chris Smalling on the sidelines.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic will also be assessed after landing awkwardly on his knee at the end of normal time and being replaced by Anthony Martial in the eventual 2-1 win. But Mourinho feels he has options in attack, with Wayne Rooney having returned to the matchday squad against the Belgian side and Juan Mata battling to return from groin surgery before the end of the season.
The boss also confirmed two players who weren’t involved in the quarter-final, second-leg triumph – Ander Herrera and Ashley Young – are set to be involved at Turf Moor this weekend and admits he may soon need to call on Reserves captain Axel Tuanzebe in defence.
“Eric Bailly has played six matches in a row – 540 minutes in a row,” Mourinho told reporters after Thursday’s game. “We lost Marcos Rojo, we don’t have Jones, we don’t have Smalling.
“We are in trouble and, now, we lose Zlatan too but, in attack, we have options: Rooney is coming and let’s see if Mata can also return before the end of the season. Let’s see what happens.
“Herrera plays [against Burnley]. He didn’t play on Thursday – one yellow card and he would have missed the semi-finals. I was thinking about him and [fellow substitute Marouane] Fellaini both at the same time but, because I made a change with Marcos Rojo, I couldn’t do that and he didn’t play.
“So Herrera is fresh to play. Ashley Young is fresh to play and who else? Nobody else is fresh to play! Now we need absolutely everyone and I don’t have to think about Axel Tuanzebe going to the Under-20 World Cup in Korea because maybe Axel has to come now. We need everybody.”
Of Rooney, who has been out of action with an ankle problem since the game against West Bromwich Albion on 1 April, Mourinho added: “He has a good mentality, he’s a fighter, he’s a strong man and, even if he’s not in the best condition or not at the level of sharpness that you need to play high-level football, he has the experience and the character.”
Marcus Rashford scored United’s 107th-minute clincher against Anderlecht, his 10th goal of a season in which he has racked up 44 appearances so far. One journalist asked Mourinho about the 19-year-old potentially being selected in the England Under-21 squad for the European Championship finals in June.
“I don’t want to go in that direction,” the manager replied. “I just feel that, when a player reaches a certain level, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to drop levels. It’s like me putting him in our Under-23s to win, let’s say, a derby against Man City. No? Nicky Butt could play him in that game because of his age.
“So when you reach a certain level and you’ve reached it for a long time, I don’t think it makes sense. But the power is in their hands.”
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