The United boss has concerns over the fitness of Rooney, Smalling and Martial after they missed the win over Manchester City on Wednesday
Jose Mourinho has a Manchester United selection dilemma on his hands ahead of the clash with Burnley this weekend.
The United boss has concerns over the fitness of Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Anthony Martial after they missed the win over rivals Manchester City in the EFL Cup on Wednesday.
Eric Bailly is a long-term absentee and is ruled out for at least eight weeks while Marcus Rashford is a doubt after limping off in midweek.
But with the likes of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who Mourinho confirmed is fit and ready to go, and Michael Carrick, who impressed his manager against City, pushing for selection the United boss has some thinking to do.
Mourinho told MUTV: “The same way everybody wanted to play against City because of such a big defeat the match before, it’s the same for this.
“Everyone wants to play now for different reasons, everybody wants to play now because they’re happy and they’re confident. Little problems we have but little problems we will fight against.”
Mourinho backed £26 million summer signing Mkhitaryan to become a Premier League hit despite keeping the Armenian in cold storage.
Mkhitaryan, the Bundesliga’s player of last season after his exploits for Borussia Dortmund, has only completed 104 minutes in the League.
Mourinho admitted that the 27-year-old was taking longer than expected to adapt to life in England.
He explained: “He’s not injured. Sometimes I confuse the meaning of fit in the English language. He is training with the team 100 per cent.
“Some players are adapted to come and play, some others, they need more time. Time to feel the intensity and the aggression, the game without the ball, the competitiveness.
“Many times players come from different countries. The style of football is different and the reality is different for sure in terms of competitiveness. There’s no other country where it doesn’t matter the team you play against, you have to play at the highest level. If you don’t you have no chance. Mikhi needs time to become the top player he can be.”
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