Team News For United Vs Bournemouth

Jose Mourinho has confirmed Luke Shaw and Wayne Rooney will be in the Manchester United squad to face Bournemouth in Saturday's return to Premier League action at Old Trafford. 

The Reds have not played a top-fight match in three weeks due to competing in the Emirates FA Cup fifth round, earning a 2-1 win at Blackburn Rovers, and last Sunday's EFL Cup final triumph over Southampton. 

Shaw has not featured since the comfortable 4-0 FA Cup win over Reading on 29 January, but Mourinho has revealed the young left-back could return against Eddie Howe's Cherries this weekend. 

In a later interview with MUTV, the boss also provided an update on Henrikh Mkhitaryan's situation and revealed Bastian Schweinsteiger has picked up a knock. Phil Jones confirmed earlier in the week that he has recovered from his foot injury.

Speaking at Friday's pre-match press conference, the manager told reporters: “[On] Luke Shaw, I have good news for you. He is selected for tomorrow so you don’t need to have the guys at The Lowry [team hotel] to take pictures of who is selected and makes the list because Luke is on the list for tomorrow. 

"Again, it is one step up from not being selected, from not being in the final, from not even being on the bench. Now, like Wayne, he’s selected so he is playing or being on the bench. He becomes an option to us again.”

Expanding on Shaw's work ethic and continued dedication on the training ground, the boss continued: "Luke is working hard trying to improve. He has improved by the physical point of view, that I can say for sure with good dedication, good specific work and, now obviously he needs some opportunities to feel alive to play some minutes on the pitch. He needs to show on the pitch the evolution is not just by the physical point of view but globally, because a player is globality, not just physical condition."

Mourinho amusingly pre-empted the media's questions by opening his press conference with the subject of Rooney and dismissing reports linking the captain with a move away from United to Everton in the summer. He also explained why the club's all-time leading scorer was not used as a substitute in the cup final at Wembley. 

“So I start without questions, okay,” the boss began on Friday. “So, Wayne Rooney to Everton, I can only say that in the final with the result at 2-2, with the team in difficulties, with the team possibly going to play 40 more minutes, Rooney was ready to go into the pitch. So he is not the player you play in the last minute, not the player to give him a gift to be in the winning final, he is a player you trust and are probably going to make him your crucial change, the last one."

Jose then revealed that Rooney, like Shaw, will feature in some capacity against Bournemouth. “The second thing I can say about Wayne is that he is selected for tomorrow with possibilities to play, obviously to start or be on the bench and come in," the boss said. 

"Since the moment he decided to stay, to help the team and to fight for the team and Manchester United, he is an important player for us. I think by giving you these two little big details, I am telling you all the talk about Everton, for me, is nonsense.”