Jose Mourinho: 'I may be forced to play Phil Jones against Fenerbahce'

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has admitted that he may be forced to play Phil Jones against Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday night due to the team's injury-ravaged defence.

The Red Devils are without Eric Bailly, Chris Smalling and Antonio Valencia ahead of tomorrow's Group A clash in Istanbul.

Jones has been included in the squad, but the 24-year-old has not played a single minute this season due to a knee ligament injury.

In fact, the defender, who joined United from Blackburn Rovers in 2011, has not played a competitive match since January.

"I almost don't remember when Phil Jones had a good run of matches for United," Mourinho told reporters in a press conference. "I remember that, when I was at Real Madrid, I played against Man United and Phil Jones played in Madrid. I don't remember many occasions after that.

"He's having a difficult relationship with injuries but he worked hard to recover, he's training with the team for more than a week now.

"We're in a difficult situation because we lost three defenders in Valencia, Bailly and Smalling. We don't have more time to be in better condition so we have to select him and maybe we have to play him."

United defeated the Turkish outfit 4-1 at Old Trafford a fortnight ago.