Ahead of United’s Boxing Day EPL clash against Sunderland, Man United coach Jose Mourinho has confirmed that powerhouse Eric Bailly is fit for the game.
The Ivorian international who arrived the Old Trafford from Villarreal at summer, recently returned from a long-term injury and missed the 2-0 win over West Brom last weekend after being stretched off in the victory against Crystal Palace three days earlier. He is however set to be available for the Monday game alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
“For us it’s more of the same. It’s good for us to have everyone available but Luke Shaw and he’s not far,” Mourinho said, as reported by the Manchester Evening News.
“Central-defender position we have now all of them, Smalling is back, Bailly is back, Blind is fine, Rojo fine, a position where it’s important to have stability in options.
“We were in a difficult position a couple of months ago but now we are safe. We know Bailly is going to African Cup in January. For the next three matches we know we have them.”
Nevertheless, considering the fact that the duo of Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo have built up a superb partnership at the heart of the defence, we are waiting to see if Bailly would be able to force his way back into the first XI.
Additionally, with speculations flying around that the Portuguese tactician is trying to sign top defenders come January, it is now glaring that everyone in the defence department need to work harder to remain regular in the squad.
