By Sanu Akingbola

Jose Mourinho says there are decisions still to be made regarding some of his players’ availability for Sunday’s game at Old Trafford, but adds the group that travel north will do so full of confidence.

There was a barely a spare seat to be had at the manager’s traditional Friday afternoon press conference, with those journalists in attendance eager to hear the latest from Mourinho, who spoke about the difficult game he anticipates on Sunday, his relationship with Man United manager Louis van Gaal and Filipe Luis’ importance to the squad.

First, though, Mourinho provided an injury update.  

‘Diego has a chance, he has a little chance – the same as Mikel and Ramires,’ he said. ‘The only one I can confirm has no chance is Remy.’

The manager reported that the French striker is expected to be out for two to three weeks after going off injured in our midweek win over Maribor. He then went in to greater detail regarding Diego Costa’s fitness.

‘Everything happened to him. He was obviously injured and then he had to go to hospital before the Maribor game with a viral situation that we didn’t manage to resolve without him being in hospital overnight.

‘The problem is that being ill obviously didn’t help his recovery because we didn’t want to bring him here to Cobham. All the treatment he did was the medical staff going to his house. We are trying and we will see what happens between today and tomorrow.

‘I’m waiting until after tomorrow’s training session to see which players are available. I will consider nothing until then. Obviously I have studied Man United the best I could, as I always do with every opponent, but I haven’t made any decision about my team.’

What Mourinho can assess is the mood among the players and staff ahead of a match that in the corresponding fixture last season ended goalless.

‘We are playing well, we are confident, we are top of the league and we are in a good position to qualify in the Champions League. The camp is happy and we are ready.

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