Manchester - Jose Mourinho described Manchester United's jammed-packed
schedule as "not human" after a growing injury list threatened to
wreck hopes of a place in next season's Champions League.
A 1-1 draw with Swansea on Sunday was a sixth stalemate in
eight games at Old Trafford and harmed hopes of finishing in the top four.
To make matters worse for United, Luke Shaw and Eric Bailly
also suffered game-ending injuries, leaving Mourinho with a major personnel
crisis ahead of Thursday's Europa League first leg semi-final visit to Celta
Vigo.
The pair joined fellow defenders Chris Smalling and Phil
Jones, who have been out since late-March, on the injury list and their absence
means United will travel to Spain without a recognised centre-back.
"I don't know about the injuries," said gloomy United
manager Mourinho.
"I think Luke Shaw's must be a big injury, because to leave the pitch after 10 minutes I am expecting a very big injury," added the Portuguese boss, who has publicly criticised the left back several times this season.
"I prefer not to speak about Phil Jones and Chris
Smalling. I don't think they will play, that is my personal opinion. I prefer
to speak about Juan Mata giving everything to be available. I am grateful for
that."
Sunday's draw saw United set a new club record of 25 consecutive
games without defeat in the same top-flight season.
But it was also the team's 57th game of an exhausting
campaign. In comparison, Swansea have played 19 games fewer - exactly half an
entire league season.
"We lost players and we lost points, so yes today was a
bad day," said Mourinho, whose side ended the weekend just outside the
Champions League places in fifth spot, a point and a position below Manchester
City.
"We did not look tired and exhausted, we are tired and
exhausted," he insisted.
"You cannot isolate the performance out of the context.
This is the ninth match of April, it is not human. We have a squad of 22 that
is reduced to 13 or 14 players. The players are very tired."
Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini will return against Vigo, from
injury and suspension respectively, and Mourinho will have to explore emergency
defensive options which could include veteran midfielder Michael Carrick and
untried youngster Axel Tuanzebe.
"I know that the players I choose they give
everything," said Mourinho. "So it doesn't matter if I go with
(Matteo) Darmian central defender, if I go with Carrick or Axel Tuanzebe.
"I trust the boys, the spirit is amazing, the group is
phenomenal. Fellaini and Pogba will be back for that game, so a bit more
options and we try with everything we have and we go again," the former
Chelsea boss added.
Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised late for Swansea with a
magnificent free-kick that cancelled out a controversial first half penalty
scored by Wayne Rooney.
That decision came after Marcus Rashford went down under a
challenge from visiting goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, an incident that
infuriated Swansea manager Paul Clement.
"I'm not saying he cheated, I'm using the word
'deceived'," said Clement of Rashford's behaviour.
"Maybe cheat is a word I'd use another time, but on
this occasion I think he deceived the ref.
"The replay showed the player deceived the referee, there's no other way to look at it. You can say he dangled his leg to make contact but he actually went down before that. The keeper pulled out of it."