Football
Arindam Rej, Man United Correspondent 8y

Luke Shaw, Henrikh Mkhitaryan 'not 100 percent' - Jose Mourinho

MANCHESTER -- Jose Mourinho said Luke Shaw and Henrikh Mkhitaryan were not "100 percent ready" to play in Saturday's 4-1 home win over Leicester City but denied they are fully injured.

Mkhitaryan had injured a thigh on international duty with Armenia but subsequently started the Manchester derby, although he was brought off at half-time. Mourinho had claimed after the game that some players had not given him what he wanted, but Mkhitaryan has not featured again, leading to question marks over his fitness.

Mourinho publicly criticised Shaw after the defeat against Watford, but the player has not featured since then, also leading to doubts over his fitness.

When asked about the pair in his news conference after beating Leicester, Mourinho said: "I wouldn't say injured. I would say they are not 100 percent. When they are not 100 percent, I always think that in these difficult moments -- when you really feel you have to win the match -- I prefer always to go with players who are 100 percent ready, from their physical and mental point of view.

"Injured were [Anthony] Martial and Phil Jones. Phil will be still for a few more weeks. All the others are still in that grey zone between being fit or being injured. The decision was to go for people who were ready."

Martial had suffered a clash of heads against Watford but was kept on the field then sloppily lost possession -- leading to Watford's first goal -- and was left in a heap. The Frenchman was then substituted and has also not appeared since then with a calf injury being cited.

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