Jose Mourinho admits he is playing the waiting game to see if Wayne Rooney will be available for Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final second leg against Anderlecht on Thursday.

The Red Devils enjoyed much the better of the first leg in Belgium, but squandered a series of chances to emerge with just a 1-1 draw, which leaves the tie open heading into the second leg at Old Trafford.




There have been question marks over whether Rooney will recover from injury in time to feature against Anderlecht and Mourinho admits that today's training session will provide the answer.

However, even if Rooney is fit, the Portuguese will still only start with him on the bench.
 


Mourinho said at a press conference: "He's working, he's improving and, if in this session the answer is positive, I will select him to be on the bench tomorrow.

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"His experience, his know-how of this knock-out phase – I think he's a player that can be useful tomorrow. He can help us."

The former Chelsea boss was also asked about the club's team news and admitted that while his men picked up no new injuries from their clash with his old club, Juan Mata, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones remain out of action.

"No injuries from the [Chelsea] game, but also no-one recovered. Mata, Jones, Smalling – they are still out.

"Wayne is the only one that is possible, but I cannot confirm now", Mourinho added.

Manchester United outplayed Chelsea to win 2-0 at the weekend, putting them in good heart for their clash with Anderlecht.