Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho is having an injury nightmare as Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly both suffered setbacks in the draw with Swansea on Sunday.
Shaw lasted just 10 minutes before an ankle knock forced him off, while his defensive teammate limped off around the hour mark to add to the likes of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones who are already sidelined with injury.
That in turn will force the Portuguese tactician into a reshuffle at the back for the first leg of their semi-final Europa League tie with Celta Vigo on Thursday.
Michael Carrick, Matteo Darmian or Axel Tuanzebe could be drafted into the middle, as it’s far from an ideal situation for the Red Devils in a crucial period of the season where they hope to secure the Europa League trophy and qualification for the Champions League, or finish in the top four in the Premier League.
“The spirit is amazing, the group is phenomenal. Fellaini and Pogba will be back for that [Celta] game, so we try with everything we have and we go again,” he is quoted as saying by ESPN FC.
Earlier, he delivered a brilliant one-liner, although he wouldn’t have found the funny side of it when he stated that his players “can’t walk from the bed to the toilet without breaking a leg.”
Meanwhile, Juan Mata returned to the squad at the weekend as he pushes to return from injury, but Mourinho took the opportunity to slam both Smalling and Jones again as their futures at Old Trafford are surely under severe scrutiny moving forward.
“I prefer not to speak about Phil Jones and Chris Smalling,” Mourinho said. “I prefer to speak about Juan Mata giving everything to be available. I am grateful for that.”