Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard could both return to the starting XI against Brighton this weekend, Jose Mourinho has confirmed.
Lukaku came on as a second-half substitute in the opening game of the new Premier League season against Leicester but Lingard missed the game having only returned from his post-World Cup holiday days before.
However, Mourinho confirmed they should both be in a better position to start for United’s first away game of the season on Sunday.
“I think we will have the same players [as against Leicester],” Mourinho said.
“I think the injured players aren’t going to be back for Brighton. What we have is Paul [Pogba] with nine days’ training, [Marcus] Rashford with 11 days’ training, [Marouane] Fellaini with nine days’ training and, of course, they will be in a better condition.
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“Normally, these boys that [against Leicester] were in a difficult situation will be ready to give a bit more [against Brighton] – more [Romelu] Lukaku, more Rashford, probably Lingard coming back, more Fellaini. I think normally we’re going to have more.”
However, in his comments Mourinho did rule out the six players who are currently injured.
Sergio Romero, Antonio Valencia, Diogo Dalot, Marcos Rojo, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic are all set to miss the game as they recover from injuries picked up before the start of the season.