Mourinho confirms hobbled Mata done for season

If Manchester United is going to nab a top-four spot and continental silverware, the club will have to do so without Juan Mata.

Red Devils boss Jose Mourinho confirmed the Spaniard's status Thursday ahead of Sunday's pivotal clash with Chelsea, adding that Mata will not recover in time from groin surgery to play again this year.

"End of May," Mourinho told reporters of Mata's likely return, according to ESPN FC's Mark Ogden.

With United's last league match of the season scheduled for May 21 against Crystal Palace, the club will be without its influential midfielder until the 2017-18 campaign.

Four points adrift of the top four and facing a Europa League quarter-final return leg against Anderlecht after the Belgians snatched a late point Thursday, United will miss its second-leading scorer for a pivotal stretch of matches.

Mata, 28, hasn't played since limping off in the 69th minute of a March 19 victory over Middlesbrough, and without its midfield maestro, United has won just once since, pairing a result against lowly Sunderland with three draws.

The Spanish international had originally hoped to return for the club's Premier League run after undergoing groin surgery the last week of March.

Mata isn't United's only walking wounded, with Mourinho also confirming the conditions of injured English centre-back duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, saying, "And Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, mid-May."