MOURINHO EXPLAINS WHY LUKE SHAW HAS NOT BEEN PLAYING

Luke Shaw has been left out of recent Manchester United squads due to his lack of versatility.

The left-back played against Wigan in the FA Cup a fortnight ago but hasn't been in the squad for United's last three matches.

Matteo Darmian was in the squad for Saturday's win over Watford, at the expense of Shaw.

And boss Jose Mourinho has admitted the Italian was included because he can play in more positions than Shaw, reports the Manchester Evening News.

''The only thing I can say is that Luke is working well. I don't have any problem and he's working well.

He's fighting hard, there is no problem with him," he said.
"He has to work and wait," Mourinho stressed.

''But I want one defender on the bench and the defender on the bench is somebody who can play more than one position.

"And Darmian can play left-back, right-back and would be an emergency central defender for us, so my choice was Darmian.

United do not play another Premier League match until March 4 due to their progress in the FA Cup and EFL Cup final date with Southampton on February 26.

Other teams have capitalised on their eliminations from the domestic cup competitions to enjoy some warm weather training but Mourinho is hopeful the fixture congestion will be rewarding for United.

"The other teams will have points, so for sure that is going to happen but that's the way it is," he stressed.

''I don't think it's easy [the fixture schedule] because you want to play the competition but at the same time we have motivations.

We play Europa League, so let's enjoy Europa League, we play a cup final, I don't believe anyone who goes to Wembley is not happy to go, so we go, we play.

"We know that in this moment Southampton are probably going to have some days off, I don't know if they go in a summer camp to some nice, beautiful place with nice weather to prepare for the final, I don't know.

''The only thing I know is that their next game is the final and we have to play three matches during this period and we have to train in this cold weather and we have to train in the bad pitches at the time because the bad weather doesn't help the pitches.

"So our situation is not easy but we have to enjoy it because it's to play football, to play important matches."