Lukaku Out For A Week

Jose Mourinho says he expects to be without Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku for the next week.

The no.9 sustained a head injury during the goalless draw with Southampton at the weekend and was stretchered off early on in the game. The Reds boss revealed Lukaku is being monitored and, as a precaution, is due to be out of action for the opening week of January.

It's another blow for United, particularly in an attacking sense, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic also on the sidelines for the next month. Lukaku has played in every Premier League game so far, but will miss the New Year's Day visit to former club Everton and he's also likely to sit out Friday's FA Cup third-round tie at home to Derby County.

Ahead of kick-off for the New Year's Day trip to Goodison Park, Mourinho told Sky Sports: "I would say a week [out for Lukaku]. It's nothing really important - just a little protection, but no problem."

Asked whether the Reds will need to adapt their gameplan in the Belgium striker's absence, he said: "Of course. If we don't have a player like Lukaku or a normal replacement like Zlatan, we have to play with the qualities we have, so we have to forget that we have to play without a target man because we don't have [one].

"We have what we have. We trust the players," he added. "The players are giving everything like they have done from the first minute of the season. No Lukaku and no Ibrahimovic means we have no no.9 as you normally call a target man that we usually play [with], so we have to change."