WAYNE ROONEY has been ruled out of Manchester United’s home clash against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho revealed his captain has failed to recover from a thigh injury sustained in training on Christmas Day.
Rooney, 31, missed United’s 3-1 win over Sunderland with the same issue.
Keep up to date with ALL the Manchester United news, gossip, transfers and goals on our club page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary
When asked if there was a date set for the skipper to return, Mourinho said: “No, but he’s not ready [for the Middlesbrough match].”
But the Portuguese boss hinted Luke Shaw could return to the Old Trafford bench on New Year's Eve.
He told MUTV: "Luke Shaw is training without any problem, but I don't think he's ready to start. Rooney is not ready."
Mourinho otherwise has a near-fully fit squad to choose from.
Related Stories
Eric Bailly was not involved against Sunderland but was deemed available for selection.
United head into the Boro fixture unbeaten in their last nine league games.
A win would be their sixth straight victory in all competitions.
Mourinho added: "Middlesbrough is the next game and the next game you play to win. So we are going to think about Middlesbrough and try to choose the team that gives us guarantees and chances to win the match.
"That includes everyone that is available and everyone we think is important for the match.
"This is the match – it's not West Ham, it's not Reading, it's not Liverpool – so if this is the match, we are going to play with the players that I think are the best to play."
Keep up-to-date with all the latest transfer news and gossip ahead of the January window with SunSport’s daily LIVE blog
Leave a comment