Jose Mourinho has admitted that Wayne Rooney might need to play in midfield for Manchester United against Swansea City this weekend as injuries and suspensions leave his side short.
Rooney has spent most of the season on bench at United but last year was often utilised in a midfield role by former manager Louis van Gaal.
While Mourinho was adamant at the start of the campaign that he did not see the 31-year-old as a option for midfield the Portuguese manager has now backtracked with his side suffering from a shortage of players.
Marouane Fellaini was sent off against Manchester City on Wednesday and the three-match ban will also see the Belgian miss the clashes with Arsenal and Tottenham on top of this weekend’s fixture with Swansea.
Paul Pogba meanwhile is also confirmed as absent for the match – although he’ll return against Celta Vigo – while Timothy Fosu- Mensah has an injury.
With just Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera available Mourinho is now ready to put Rooney back into the side in a deeper position.
Mourinho told his pre-match press-conference: “Yes, he’s an option. We don’t have [any other players there].
“We have Herrera and Carrick and nothing else. And Tim Fosu-Mensah, like [against City], an emergency to help the team, he’s another that we will miss, so we are in trouble but we will fight, that’s for sure.”
Mourinho currently has seven players out injured and the United boss has offered an analysis of his current squad situation.
He added: “We arrive in an extreme situation where, I think it must be unique in football, where we have two cruciate ligaments in the same match. In my career I had one in 17 years. And now, against Anderlecht, I have two.
“We are very unlucky is the only thing we can say, and the other small injuries, the Pogba one, [Antonio] Valencia last week, are the injuries of fatigue, which is normal.
“Smalling and Jones were [injured] with the English national team, training. So maybe it’s a blessing, maybe it’s an opportunity to make them mentally stronger. Maybe it’s a blessing, so let’s see if they can come back.
“I think the first one to come back is Mata, which will give us another option in attack, but in reality what we need now is one of the two centre-backs to be back. Pogba will be back for Celta.”
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