Mourinho hopeful of fully fit squad for Manchester United's clash against Stoke

Jose Mourinho is hopeful all the players who were on the pitch against Zorya Luhansk on Thursday will be available for Manchester United's clash against Stoke City on Sunday (2 October). The Red Devils opened their account in the Europa League with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Ukrainian side following their loss in the opening group game against Feyenoord.

The Portuguese manager is also likely to be handed a double boost with Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan expected to be back in contention for the game against the Britannia Stadium outfit. The former, who missed the clash against Leicester City with a groin injury, was omitted for the Europa League clash owing to illness, while the latter, who was sidelined with a thigh injury, missed due to lack of match fitness after he returned to training just a day before the game against Zorya.

"Really happy to have started training with team and I am on my way to getting fully fit!" the Armenia international wrote on his official Twitter account on Wednesday (28 September).

Mourinho is likely to have a full strength squad at his disposal as they seek their fourth consecutive win in all competitions after a slight wobble that saw them lose three matches on the trot earlier in the month. The only player that is certain to miss the game against the Potters is Phil Jones, who is sidelined with a knee injury. The English defender was expected to be out for a month, but reportedly suffered a setback and is now facing an extended period on the sidelines.

"Let's see tomorrow [about injuries], but normally yes, normally we have almost everyone in a condition to play. Of course, Phil Jones has a long-term injury," Mourinho told United's official site following their Zlatan Ibrahimovic inspired 1-0 win over Zorya.

"One week - three defeats, another week - three victories. I was not depressed by the three defeats and I'm not over the moon after three victories. We have another game on Sunday [against Stoke] and that's now the most important one.

"It will be a very difficult match [against Stoke], the truth is not where they are in the table; they have a good team and a good manager. I don't look at the table, I look at their quality," he added.