Mourinho suggests Martial is short on chances

Mourinho suggests Martial is short on chances

LONDON, England - Jose Mourinho says Anthony Martial will be given the opportunity to rescue his Manchester United career but suggested time is running out for the French forward. Martial has struggled to sustain form since Mourinho’s arrival at Old Trafford and the 21-year-old has not even been included as a substitute in United’s last two outings. Martial was signed from Monaco by previous manager Louis van Gaal for £36m last summer. He was United’s top-scorer last season, with 17 goals from 49 appearances but his progress has slowed during this campaign. He has scored six goals from 23 outings under Mourinho and there is speculation the France international will be allowed to leave at the right price. After edging past Hull to reach the EFL Cup final on Thursday, United face Championship club Wigan at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round. The Red Devils then face Hull again in the Premier League on Wednesday. When asked how Martial had reacted to being left out of his most recent squad, Mourinho said: “I don’t know. I don’t speak with the players about how they take it. “He will play Sunday and, if Sunday he plays magnificent, he will play against Hull City the next match. It’s simple.” United’s run to the EFL Cup final, combined with involvement in the Europa League means they are the only Premier League club still involved in four competitions and Mourinho has already begun to grumble about possible fixture congestion in this second half of the season. Yet Mourinho fielded arguably his strongest team in both semi-final legs against Hull and says he will resist the temptation to rotate heavily against Wigan. Luke Shaw, the England defender, will be involved, as will Sergio Romero, while first-choice goalkeeper David De Gea is given a break. “The challenge is the next match and the next match is the FA Cup,” Mourinho said. “Second match for us in the FA Cup and we are going to do… in a serious way too. “We know the difficulty to play against a Championship team. We played already Wigan in pre- season. They will bring lots of fans too, so the match is going to be difficult. “We have to play with a very good team. The only player who is out is De Gea, I give him a few days off. I play Romero. I put Joel (Pereira) on the bench and, apart from that, I go with a good team because we want to try to beat them. “It will be a tough match. I will make some changes, that’s obvious. I have to. We play Hull City again two days after Wigan. But I’m going to play with a good team, a team with the responsibility to give the fans a good performance at home and with the responsibility to try to win against Wigan.” The visit of Wigan, who are 21st in the Championship, will bring a familiar face back to Old Trafford. They are managed by Warren Joyce, who was part of United’s coaching staff from 2008 until departing for the DW Stadium in November last year. “He knows us, he will come with special motivation to play against his old club,” Mourinho said. “I worked with him just for a few months but that was enough to know he’s a very nice man, a very passionate football man. He took the risk, he accepted the challenge. “He left a good situation in our club to try to go what we call ‘men’s football’ and, for sure, he will come with a team that’s very aggressive, well organised defensively, emotional – the manager is also emotional.”