Jose Mourinho has admitted he faces being without Paul Pogba for the long term.
The Frenchman has been out since suffering a hamstring injury when he captained United during their Champions League home win against Basel earlier this month.
Mourinho has so far refused to put a timeframe on the midfielder's lay-off, but admits Pogba will be sidelined for months rather than weeks.
“[Pogba’s] injured, he cannot play tomorrow," said the Special One ahead of Saturday's clash against Crystal Palace.
"His injury is not one that I can have the hope like I can have with Valencia or Jones. With them, I have the hope to see them training and to have a positive answer [on their availability soon].
"But with long-term injuries, I don't speak about them, so Ibra, Pogba, Rojo and these players, I don't think about them."
Mourinho has told his players to remain humble when pointless and goalless Palace come to Old Trafford.
The Manchester United boss knows that his free flowing side are expected to dismantle bottom of the table Palace.
But Mourinho warned:"The mentality is important for my players. We are doing well but we also arrived home from our Champions League game in Moscow at 4am on Thursday and were not in our beds until 5am.
"The recovery is important. At times like these I look at the time we have to recover not the opponent.
"This is why the mentality of the players is important."
Despite their precarious situation Mourinho believes former England boss Roy Hodgson has enough time to turn things around at Selhurst Park.
He added: "There is a long time to go. It is just the beginning. Roy is experienced. They have good players. It's a good club and they have enough time to fulfil and reach their objectives."
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