Manchester United vs Hull - Mourinho hoping to take all three points against Hull

Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2017 by PA

Jose Mourinho says only victory over Hull would be a good result for Manchester United as the sides prepare to do battle for the second time in a week.

Marco Silva's men won the EFL Cup semi-final second leg at the KCOM Stadium - a 2-1 loss that did not prevent United reaching the final but ended their 17-match unbeaten run, despite Mourinho, incensed by the officials, saying it ended 1-1.

"The last time we played them, even a defeat would have been a good result," Mourinho, who can welcome back Eric Bailly, said. "Even to lose the match by one goal difference would give us a final.

"And tomorrow only three points is a good result for us so if we don't win it's really bad because we need to win matches. That's a big difference, we need to win the match.

"We always play a full strength team, depending on the way you look at it.

"But normally we always try to have always a strong team, but of course we had some players that didn't play the last match.

"Some players with a lot of matches already, players like (Antonio) Valencia, Pogba, Ibrahimovic, didn't play (against Wigan). They will play tomorrow."

Hull manager Silva admits a shortage of defenders at his disposal means full-back Andy Robertson will remain at the club beyond transfer deadline day.

Burnley had been linked with a B£10million move for the Scotland international, with Robertson tipped to follow fellow high-profile players Robert Snodgrass and Jake Livermore out of the KCOM Stadium this month.

But Silva - who bolstered his back-line with the loan capture of Andrea Ranocchia from Inter Milan on Tuesday - insists Robertson will not be leaving, with the left-back set to feature at Manchester United on Wednesday night.

"He's our player, he's an important player for us and in this moment I'm thinking to prepare Robertson to play (against United)," he said.

"I spoke with the player (on Monday) and I said - I was clear with him - 'I want you to stay at the club, I keep you in our squad'. I said the same applies for our chairman."

The decision to keep Robertson is, in part, motivated by a lack of numbers in defence, with centre-half Curtis Davies adding to their injury woes after being ruled out for around eight weeks with a hamstring problem.

Davies started in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham over the weekend, despite worries over his hamstring, and he lasted just 10 minutes before being replaced by Harry Maguire, himself carrying a slight knock.

Silva, though, felt he had little option but to include Davies in the line-up as he admitted he simply cannot rest key players.

"If I didn't put Curtis in, we don't have one centre-back to play this game, it's not normal. It was a risk," he said.

"It's important when the players are ready to help always the team. Sometimes you play with a risk factor.

"In this moment it's impossible for me to do some rotations and sometimes I need to make some adaptations in some positions, like Tom (Huddlestone). He plays always 90 minutes, plays centre-back, plays midfielder.

"Sometimes you need to be careful with him but in this moment it's impossible. But I hope for the next weeks, we'll be able to do these rotations."

With Davies definitely out of the Old Trafford trip and Maguire and captain Michael Dawson doubtful, Silva may be tempted to give an immediate debut to Ranocchia.

The Italy international, capped 21 times by his country, joins fellow loan recruits Oumar Niasse, Evandro, Omar Elabdellaoui and Lazar Markovic in Humberside, with only Markus Henriksen arriving on a permanent basis this month.