Jose Mourinho has told MUTV there is no change to his list of available players for Manchester United’s Premier League match against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday night.
The Reds faced Bristol City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday evening and, unfortunately, severe weather conditions prevented the squad from flying home, forcing the team to drive back up north.
Mourinho and his men did not get back to Manchester until 5am on Thursday, which was far from ideal, although the boss is pleased that several players were able to rest at home in midweek.
Speaking to MUTV’s Mark Sullivan at the Aon Training Complex on Friday, Jose gave this update on his squad ahead of the trip to Leicester. “It is the same,” he began. “There is no news.
“Of course, for the game at Bristol we changed a lot of the players, so we managed to give a rest to many of them and especially to the lucky ones that did not travel.
“Because the ones that did travel, even some who did not play, arrived back in Manchester close to 5am. People like Mata or Smalling, who were on the bench, had to travel back.”
UPDATE ON CARRICK AND FELLAINI
After speaking to MUTV, Mourinho held his pre-match press conference and revealed he does not expect club captain Michael Carrick to return from injury during the busy Christmas schedule. He is unsure whether Marouane Fellaini can feature in the festive fixtures but the Belgian will certainly miss Leicester.
The boss also confirmed right-back Antonio Valencia is still unavailable for action, due to the hamstring injury he sustained during the second half of last weekend’s win at West Bromwich Albion.
“Valencia is out as you know,” Jose told reporters. “Eric Bailly is having surgery right now or just finished. Who else [is injured]? Nobody else. Everything is okay.”
