Jose Mourinho has confirmed that injured duo Luke Shaw and Ashley Young will feature for the Manchester United U23s against Swansea City on Monday as the pair enter the latter stages of their rehabilitation process before returning to the first team.
Shaw, who will be handed a “second chance” by Mourinho this season, picked up an ankle ligament injury during United’s last clash with Swansea back in late April and was expected to return to action by mid-September.
Young suffered a groin injury a few days later against Celta Vigo that required surgery and Mourinho recently claimed he would be back in action by October, although this may have been a way of convincing the board to bring in another winger before the transfer window closed. The pair were seen taking part in a full contact six-a-side game lasting 45 minutes soon after United’s 4-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday – a promising indicator of the pair returning ahead of schedule.
And Mourinho, speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Swansea City on Saturday, noted that the pair would begin to work back to full fitness by playing for Ricky Spragia’s U23s on Monday night.
“Everybody is fine. The next week, on Monday, in the Under-23s game, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young are playing their first minutes of competition this season,” he said.
“It is like a pre-season match for them. But it is good news because, when they can play with the Under-23s, it is because the last week they trained with us all week so they are both coming [back].”
