drew 0-0 at Liverpool on Monday,<\/a> and play Mourinho’s old team Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.<\/p>\n“It’s a very difficult week for us. Monday, Thursday, Sunday; Liverpool, Fenerbahce, Chelsea. It’s a special week. We have to be ready,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Portuguese would not be drawn on his line-up – or whether forward Wayne Rooney would start the 20:05 BST kick-off at Old Trafford.<\/p>\n
The England captain, 30, has been a substitute for United’s past four matches.<\/p>\n
“I don’t want to give you the team,” said Mourinho. “Sometimes I do, but this time, no.<\/p>\n
“Wayne is working well, he is positive. We count on him – to start or to be on the bench.<\/p>\n
“If we play with a team that is not good and strong, we won’t have a chance. We will play a really good team knowing two days later we have to play again.”<\/p>\n
Mourinho did confirm attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan is available after recovering from a thigh injury that has kept him out since mid-September.<\/p>\n
Van Persie on his Old Trafford return<\/h3>\n
Thursday’s game will pit United against their former striker Robin van Persie.<\/p>\n
The Dutchman, now 33, was signed from Arsenal in 2012 by Sir Alex Ferguson, but the Scot retired at the end of Van Persie’s first season.<\/p>\n
The former Arsenal forward was sold to Fenerbahce by Louis van Gaal in 2015.<\/p>\n
Asked if he thought he would still be at United had Ferguson stayed, Van Persie said: “When I signed that was the idea, that Sir Alex would stay on for a few more years.<\/p>\n
“What happened, happened. I don’t think you have to make it bigger than it is. You shake hands and move on to the next chapter.”<\/p>\n
Fenerbahce’s arrival in Manchester was delayed when the plane carrying the team was forced to make an emergency landing<\/a> after it was hit by a bird.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he will field a “strong” side as a “difficult week” continues with a Europa League match against Fenerbahce. Thursday’s Group A fixture is United’s second of three matches in six days. They drew 0-0 at Liverpool on Monday, and play Mourinho’s old team Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":260096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[142],"tags":[564,1753,102,104,937],"yoast_head":"\n
Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he will field a “strong” side as a “difficult week” continues with a Europa League match against Fenerbahce. Thursday’s Group A fixture is United’s second of three matches in six days. They drew 0-0 at Liverpool on Monday, and play Mourinho’s old team Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonas Nyabor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jonas Nyabor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/\",\"name\":\"Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/476b2fb2e9233445afbfa2662d85fe6b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mourinho to field ‘strong’ Man Utd team in ‘difficult week’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/476b2fb2e9233445afbfa2662d85fe6b\",\"name\":\"Jonas Nyabor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74e004fce505330b7ba17aeaae177b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74e004fce505330b7ba17aeaae177b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jonas Nyabor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/jonas\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says he will field a “strong” side as a “difficult week” continues with a Europa League match against Fenerbahce. Thursday’s Group A fixture is United’s second of three matches in six days. They drew 0-0 at Liverpool on Monday, and play Mourinho’s old team Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00","author":"Jonas Nyabor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jonas Nyabor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/","name":"Mourinho to field 'strong' Man Utd team in 'difficult week' - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00","dateModified":"2016-10-20T14:22:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/476b2fb2e9233445afbfa2662d85fe6b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/10\/mourinho-to-field-strong-man-utd-team-in-difficult-week\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mourinho to field ‘strong’ Man Utd team in ‘difficult week’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/476b2fb2e9233445afbfa2662d85fe6b","name":"Jonas Nyabor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74e004fce505330b7ba17aeaae177b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b74e004fce505330b7ba17aeaae177b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jonas Nyabor"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/jonas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260095"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}