Jose Mourinho hints at Henrikh Mkhitaryan inclusion in EFL Cup tie

Jose Mourinho has revealed that he intends "to make a few changes" to Manchester United's starting lineup for the EFL Cup quarter-final tie against Bristol City, potentially opening the door for Henrikh Mkhitaryan's return.

The Armenia international has fallen completely out of favour at Old Trafford in recent weeks, despite starting the campaign with five assists and a goal in his first six Premier League outings.

Mourinho made clear earlier this week that Mkhitaryan has not done enough to warrant a place on the United bench, having failed to make the squad at all in eight of their last nine games.

Wednesday's trip to Ashton Gate presents a chance for the 28-year-old to stake a claim for a return to the first-team fold, however, as Mourinho intends to rotate his side slightly during a busy period.

"I am making a few changes for the match, not many, because Bristol is one of the best teams in the Championship and for me now the Championship is not the Championship of five or 10 years ago," he told reporters.

"The Championship is now high-quality teams with lots of players that could be playing in the Premier League easily. So we need to take the game really seriously. But I am going to make a few changes and it's possible Mhiki is involved.

"At the moment we are playing [Juan] Mata, [Marcus] Rashford, [Jesse] Lingard or [Anthony] Martial, [Romelu] Lukaku and the bench has been Ibra (Zlatan Ibrahimovic) and one of the other ones - Martial or Rashford. There is no space for everybody because you need balance on the bench too."

Mourinho has previously accused Mkhitaryan, a £26m signing from Borussia Dortmund last year, of "disappearing" in big games.