Jose Mourinho has no fresh injury concerns to deal with as Manchester United visit St. Mary’s to take on Southampton on Saturday.
Manchester United are on the road in Gameweek 6 of the Premier League as Southampton host them in a tricky away fixture at St. Mary’s on Saturday. The Red Devils will be looking to continue their winning run this weekend but must be wary of the Saints.
Jose Mourinho does not have any fresh injury concerns on his hands ahead of Saturday’s trip to St. Mary’s. Therefore, Axel Tuanzebe (back), Paul Pogba (hamstring), Marcos Rojo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (both knee) continue to remain the four first-team players on the treatment table for Manchester United.
Among these, Tuanzebe is likely to be the earliest to return as his injury is only a minor problem. Rojo and Ibrahimovic, on the other hand, are long-term absentees, and are unlikely to feature for the remainder of the year for Mourinho.
“I don’t cry or count the days until Paul Pogba comes back,” says Jose. “It’s a good opportunity for others. I trust them all.” #MUFC pic.twitter.com/LGIGALaOPL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 22, 2017
However, the injury to Pogba is the most concerning, with no set date stamped for his return from his hamstring problem. Early reports have stated that the Frenchman could return by the third week of October, but Mourinho said in his pre-match press conference that he has no idea when his star midfielder will be back.
“I have no idea when he [Pogba] will be back,” Mourinho said. “No idea, but again, this is a great opportunity for other players to play and I trust them all. So I’m not going to cry or be counting the days until Pogba comes back. When he comes back, welcome, but until then I trust my people.”
Mourinho also confirmed that Luke Shaw will not be part of his matchday squad on Saturday, despite having no injury troubles as he still continues to work on regaining full match fitness after a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
“He has to work, just that,” he said before adding, “You saw the game [against Burton], you saw the same as I see. Are you asking me if he plays tomorrow? No, he’s not playing tomorrow. He has to work, he has to improve. It’s just a process, he doesn’t play for a long, long time.”
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pellegrino has just one player unavailable for the visit of Manchester United, with Matt Targett struggling with an ankle injury. But, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is available after missing out last weekend due to the birth of his daughter, while Virgil van Dijk is in contention after making an appearance from the bench against Crystal Palace.