Jose Mourinho says other Manchester United players deserve to be in squad ahead of Henrikh Mkhitaryan

  • Midfielder has only played 19 minutes of first-team football since November 5
  • Henrikh Mkhitaryan was not on the bench against Bournemouth on Wednesday
  • Jose Mourinho explained why he had left him out of the squad for the match 

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has said others players 'deserve' to play more than Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The midfielder has not featured recently for United, having been left out of seven of the last eight squads, and has only played 19 minutes of first-team football since November 5.

Mkhitaryan was also absent as United beat Bournemouth 1-0 on Wednesday night.

Jose Mourinho said players at Manchester United deserve to play ahead of Henrikh Mkhitaryan

Jose Mourinho said players at Manchester United deserve to play ahead of Henrikh Mkhitaryan

The Armenian has only played 19 minutes of first-team football since November 5

The Armenian has only played 19 minutes of first-team football since November 5

Victor Lindelof, Sergio Romero, Ander Herrera, Daley Blind, Ashley Young, Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were named on the bench ahead of him. 


And Mourinho said: 'I had two defenders that can play in different areas, I have Ashley Young to cover the wing and wing backs position.

'[Ander] Herrera is a midfield player, Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] is a striker, [Marcus] Rashford is a second striker and a winger.

'To have Mkhitaryan means I don't have one of them and I believe the others deserve [to be selected].'

Mourinho flagged up which players deserved a place on the bench ahead of him

Mourinho flagged up which players deserved a place on the bench ahead of him

United's victory on Wednesday gave them a quick opportunity to recover after the painful defeat to rivals Manchester City.

Mourinho, who also insisted the title race was not over, said: 'They wanted to win the match and I could see that from minute one to the last second.'

The Old Trafford side are still playing catch up in the Premier League as the second placed now trail City by 11 points.