Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has bracketed Paul Pogba's injury as "long term" - comparing it to those Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo are recovering from. The severity of the hamstring issue that caused the 24-year-old to limp off early in the club's Champions League return against Basel has been shrouded in mystery.
Mourinho has repeatedly claimed not to know how bad Pogba's injury is as the club continued to assess him in-house, as well as seeking specialist advice.
The Manchester United manager is still unwilling to put a timescale on the injury, but 17 days on from the France international's setback Mourinho has revealed it is a long-term issue.
"He's injured, he cannot play on Saturday and it's not an injury that I can have the hope like I have with Antonio Valencia or Phil Jones," Mourinho said of Pogba.
"I have the hope to see them in training and to have a positive answer, so long-term injuries I don't speak about them.
"So Ibra and Pogba and Rojo, these players I don't think about them."
Pogba, Rojo and Ibrahimovic are joined on the sidelines by Michael Carrick, while Jones and Valencia are to be assessed having missed the midweek Champions League match at CSKA Moscow.
Marouane Fellaini also missed out with an ankle injury that is still under assessment, while Anthony Martial went off in the 4-1 win in Russia.
"We have to train and to make decisions after training, but I hope some of the players that couldn't play in Moscow (can play)," he said.
"I hope maybe not all of them but some can recover. They were out and Saturday some will be out.
"What I am saying is that from all the injuries we have, I hope we can have some players available Saturday."
Source - Skysports
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