Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is not back to full fitness ahead of Monday’s FA Cup tie with Chelsea.
The Armenian midfielder scored his side’s only goal in a 1-1 Europa League draw away to FC Rostov, which falls in the midst of a hectic fixture schedule for United.
Mourinho returns to Stamford Bridge for an FA Cup quarter-final with his former side on Monday in the first of three games in a week. United will also host Rostov in the Europa League last 16 second leg on Thursday and travel to Middlesbrough on Sunday.
After a slow start to his first season in English football Mkhitaryan has established himself as one of United’s most important players in recently months and Chelsea would doubtless welcome his absence, or limited participation, in the FA Cup.
"We know he cannot play 90 minutes," Mourinho said. "We knew he would only play 60 minutes - it doesn't matter [what] the result [was], we made that decision together as he is not in the best condition.
"We gave him freedom to play in attacking positions with Zlatan, to try to find spaces to score. He did well and managed to finish the game without injury, which is important for us."
