Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho will make changes to his starting line-up for their Europa League clash with Feyenoord on Thursday night, with Jesse Lingard and Henrikh Mkhitaryan dropped.
Both players were replaced at half-time against Manchester City on Saturday, although it was later suggested that Mkhitaryan may have played with an injury issue.
However, neither will be in a position to bounce back immediately from their disappointing displays, with Mourinho confirming that their respective performances at the weekend mean that they will not feature from the start in Rotterdam.
“The performances are the deciding factor. Performances are the only way that I can decide,” he said, as reported by The Sun, who claim he was left furious with their displays.
“So if you are asking me if they are going to play against Feyenoord, then no. And it is not to punish them it is just to decide in relation to what I have and what do I have? Their performances.
“So of course I am going to play other players.”
It’s unclear at this stage as to whether Mourinho will be making any further changes for the game, as ultimately he will also be cautious about shaking things up too much and risking their chances of making a positive start to their European campaign.
United had won all three of their opening Premier League outings to start the season, and although they’ll be disappointed to have lost their 100 percent record against their city rivals, they’ll need to produce a positive reaction this week.
With Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Juan Mata all on the bench at the weekend, the trio will all be hoping that they can return to the starting line-up on Thursday with a view of making their case to keep their spot for the clash with Watford next weekend.