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Manchester United's Eric Bailly and Marcus Rashford injured on international duty

<<enter caption here>> on July 25, 2017 in Washington, DC.
Image: Marcus Rashford (L) and Eric Bailly (R) picked up injuries while away on international duty

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed Eric Bailly and Marcus Rashford were unable to start against Liverpool after sustaining injuries on international duty.

Striker Rashford, who was fit enough to be named on the bench and came on as a substitute for United in the 66th minute of the goalless draw at Anfield, was taken off during England's World Cup qualifier against Lithuania last weekend.

Defender Bailly was ruled out of the game altogether after suffering an unspecified problem while away with the Ivory Coast.

In the absence of Bailly, United started the game with a centre-half pairing made up of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones and Anthony Martial took up the vacant berth on the left-hand side of the attack.

Jose Mourinho looks on as Marcus Rashford of Manchester United reacts
Image: Jose Mourinho looks on as Marcus Rashford reacts after coming on as a sub against Liverpool

Mourinho had already suffered the setback of losing Marouane Fellaini after the midfielder picked up a ligament injury while playing in World Cup qualifiers with Belgium.

"I don't think we have many options," Mourinho told Sky Sports ahead of the game against Liverpool.

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho before the Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool.
Image: Mourinho surveys the scene at Anfield before the game

"Fellaini was injured with the national team, Bailly was injured with the national team and Rashford was injured with the national team. We don't have many options.

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"I never complain about that. I was just mentioning it to you because the next question is maybe 'why is Rashford not playing?', 'why is Bailly not even on the bench?'.

"But, okay, since the moment we know the players we have available, we thought about the match and we thought about our options and we made these decisions."

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