Manchester United’s strike force has been wiped out for Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea.
Wayne Rooney, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford will all miss the tie at Stamford Bridge. With Zlatan Ibrahimovic starting a three-game domestic ban, manager Jose Mourinho has suddenly been left without a recognised striker to face his old club and may opt to play Marouane Fellaini as a lone front man.
Rooney was injured in a collision with Phil Jones in the final training session before the squad left for London by train on Sunday night, although it is understood that Jones was not to blame in any way for the incident.
Martial has also been ruled out through injury while Rashford was taken ill and could not travel.
The news is a hammer blow to United’s hopes of overcoming Chelsea and retaining the trophy they won at Wembley in May.
Mourinho appears likely to turn to midfielder Marouane Fellaini as a makeshift target man, although he could opt for the pace of Henrikh Mkhitaryan or Ashley Young to resolve the extraordinary situation.
Speaking in the build-up to the game, Mourinho discussed the options open to him on his return to Chelsea after Ibrahimovic was banned for elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings.
‘Now we have three matches without Zlatan,’ he said. ‘It’s Rashford, Martial, Wayne Rooney and let’s forget Zlatan. I never speak about the players who aren’t available, so Zlatan is not available and I am not going to cry about it.’
Meanwhile, Mourinho claims that Antonio Conte has been given an easy ride with Chelsea because his own failings at Stamford Bridge last season left the Italian in a ‘privileged position’.
This will be Mourinho’s 46th game of the campaign as United boss compared to Conte’s 34 matches in charge.
Chelsea’s alarming slump last season under Mourinho, who was sacked in December, meant that Conte has been free to focus on winning the Premier League title and FA Cup without the added burden of European football.
Last month, the Chelsea manager disputed that his team have been handed an unfair advantage over FA Cup holders United, saying: ‘We have this situation because of last season, not because someone invented it. Last season was very bad.’
But Mourinho maintains that Conte inherited a favourable situation, even pointing to goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois’ flying trip to the United States last month as an example of how Chelsea have benefited from extra preparation time.
He said: ‘I know that he (Conte) told a couple of weeks ago that it’s not his fault that they are not in the European competitions, it’s my fault and the players’ fault.
‘But the reality is that he got in his hands a situation where they have time to work, time to rest, time to relax, time to disconnect, time to travel, time to have holidays, time to go and enjoy America for a couple of days.
‘They have time for all of these things, so they are in a position of privilege — the same privilege that Liverpool had a couple of years ago when they almost won the Premier League (in 2014).
‘The most difficult thing to have is time to work, and they have time to work. But I don’t want to say that they don’t deserve credit for it. They choose a certain style of play that I think is very adapted to the qualities of these players.
‘They defend a lot and well, and they kill opponents on the counter-attack, similar to my Chelsea.
‘They are doing very very well, and that is why they are going to be champions easily.’
Mourinho suffered his worst ever Premier League defeat when United were thrashed 4-0 at Stamford Bridge in October and he was angered by Conte’s celebrations.
But he insists revenge is not on his mind and that Thursday’s Europa League second leg against FC Rostov is more important.
He added: ‘I have no regrets. I am not looking for bad feelings at all. It’s just a game that comes in the wrong moment because the Europa League can give us a Champions League spot.
‘It is more important than the FA Cup for us.’