Football | Mourinho hopes Fellaini recovers in two weeks

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho hopes Marouane Fellaini will be out for only about two weeks.

Fellaini was hurt by a hard tackle from Southampton’s Shane Long during United’s 1-0 win on Saturday in the English Premier League.

With Paul Pogba also injured, Fellaini’s absence has left a hole in the midfield heading into the Champions League game against CSKA Moscow tomorrow (Macau time).

“Fellaini was lucky, it could be a much worse situation but in a moment where we don’t have Pogba and [Michael] Carrick, Marouane becomes even more important than he always is,” Mourinho said yesterday. “The solutions are not many.

“It’s a difficult situation for us, but I expect Fellaini not to be out for a long time.”

With Fellaini’s Belgium team already qualified for the World Cup, Mourinho hopes Fellaini will be rested during the international break next week.

Mourinho said: “He’s not under pressure in a big match for Belgium so I hope he’ll be back with us.”

Fellaini will miss the Premier League game against Crystal Palace on Saturday, but could be ready two weeks after that for the league game against Liverpool.

In CSKA, United faces a team which is fourth in the Russian league and trying to bounce back from defeat in the Russian Cup on Wednesday. Both United and CSKA won their opening Champions League games in Group A, Mourinho’s men beating Basel 3-0, while CSKA won at Benfica 2-1. AP