Mourinho rules Lukaku out for 1 week after clash of heads
Romelu Lukaku's time on the sidelines might be shorter than initially feared as Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho confirmed his striker should be out for only a week or so as the result of a clash of heads against Southampton.
Lukaku and Saints defender Wesley Hoedt bumped heads as they challenged for a high ball early in Saturday's 0-0 draw. Lukaku landed awkwardly and was subsequently stretchered off at the 14-minute mark wearing an oxygen mask. He was not named to the Red Devils' team for Monday's tilt against Everton, but Mourinho indicated Lukaku isn't slated to miss significant time.
"I would say a week," Mourinho told Sky Sports of Lukaku's injury timeline, as quoted by the club's official website. "It's nothing really important - just a little protection, but no problem."
Mourinho added Lukaku is being monitored and is being left out of the first week of January as a precautionary measure. In his stead - and with Zlatan Ibrahimovic still on the mend - the Portuguese tactician opted to start versatile attacker Anthony Martial at centre-forward against the Toffees. It marks the first Premier League match that Lukaku hasn't played in this season.
"If we don't have a player like Lukaku or a normal replacement like Zlatan, we have to play with the qualities we have, so we have to forget that we have to play without a target man because we don't have (one)," Mourinho said of his forced changes.
He added: "We have what we have. We trust the players."
It's a bitter pill to swallow for Mourinho, who earlier in the week lamented the fact that he couldn't actually afford to give a fatigued Lukaku much rest, due to a lack of options and a packed schedule. Mourinho called Lukaku "physically a monster," but also quipped "he's not a machine."
Fate, it seems, had other plans for Lukaku this week, though the team hopes Martial can find a way to replicate the Belgian's goal-scoring form: Lukaku has 14 goals in 29 appearances in all competitions for United this season.
As it stands, Lukaku is set to miss United's FA Cup 3rd round match against Derby County on Jan. 5, but could return in time for a league tilt with Stoke City on Jan. 15.