José Mourinho says Luke Shaw 'must have a big injury', rues Manchester United fixture jam

Manchester United manager José Mourinho says defender Luke Shaw "must have a big injury" after he was withdrawn from his side's 1-1 draw with Swansea City on Sunday (30 April). Shaw was replaced by Antonio Valencia after just eight minutes with what looked to be a knee injury. His involvement in the Red Devils' Europa League semi-final clash against Celta Vigo on Thursday evening is now thrown in doubt.

Mourinho also lost Eric Bailly to injury against Swansea and could now face the prospect of guiding United through their game against Celta with no specialist central defenders.

The former Real Madrid boss was unaware of the extent of the injuries sustained by his defensive duo, but thinks Shaw may have suffered significant damage.

"Luke Shaw has to be a big injury, if you leave the pitch after 10 minutes it has to be an important injury," Mourinho said after Manchester United's draw with Swansea. "Eric Bailly played every minute of the previous eight matches and just played another 60 more. I don't know, but Luke Shaw must be an important injury."

The draw against relegation-threatened Swansea was Manchester United's 10th in the league at Old Trafford this season.

They controversially led through a Wayne Rooney penalty after Marcus Rashford dived to win the spot-kick, but Paul Clement's men deservedly levelled through Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Despite dropping yet another two points Mourinho refused to criticise his players, instead praising them for battling through a period which has seen them play nine matches in April alone.

"We lost players, we lost two points," the Manchester United boss added. "We are tired, if some people want to analyse the performance itself, its one thing. You can't isolate the performance. We have faced nine matches in April, with a squad of 22 reduced to 13 or 14, with very tired players.

"I don't isolate the performances from the context. Did [Ashley] Young and [Jesse] Lingard look sharper? Of course, they didn't play the last match. We're in a very difficult situation. With the players I'm more than happy, I'm intelligent and experienced enough to not isolate the performance. My guys gave everything they could. When you give everything, you cannot demand more."