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22nd Feb 2017

Jose Mourinho isn’t confident that two of his players will be fit for the EFL final

Big blow for United

Paul Moore

Progress in the Europa League came at a cost.

Manchester United booked their place in the next round of the Europa League with a comfortable 1-0 win away to St Etienne (4-0 on aggregate) but the victory came at a cost.

Aside from Eric Bailly seeing red after picking up two yellow cards in the space of 185 seconds, it appears that Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick are both serious doubts for Sunday’s EFL Cup final against Southampton.

Mkhitaryan scored the only goal of the game but the Armenian was forced to limp out of the action shortly after.

Carrick also had to be withdrawn and Mourinho wasn’t optimistic about their chances of making the final.

Speaking with BT Sport 3, he said: “You can be injured leaving your house, you can be injured in the garden. You never know when and why. It’s the result of the accumulation of matches you have always, the risk of it, but every time when somebody is missing it is an opportunity for another one.  Obviously they are important players for us and not to have them both for the final is complicated but I think Marouane (Fellaini) and Bastian (Schweinsteiger) – two players who are normally not playing too much – is a good answer.

When pushed further on the issue, Mourinho said: “I don’t say that (that they will definitely miss out), I just say what I feel. It’s three days (before the final), a hamstring and a calf. Even if it’s a minor injury I think three days is no time.”

Take a look.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v-k-MTa1ZM

Clip via – Everything MUFC