Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that Anthony Martial was fit for Thursday's Europa League clash with Feyenoord, but was not included in the squad for tactical reasons.
Martial's absence from the matchday squad raised a few eyebrows, although the Frenchman has struggled to replicate his form from last season this term - managing just two goals during the 2016-17 campaign.
Mourinho has said that the 20-year-old was fit to face the Dutch outfit, but he wanted to hand summer signing from Borussia Dortmund Henrikh Mkhitaryan the chance to impress.
"[Martial] was OK for this game, it was just an option. He played last Saturday, I cannot play with 12 players, I cannot use on the bench 19 or 20. You wanted to see Mkhitaryan, I wanted too. I cannot play all of them at the same time so it was just an option. Players have to win their positions," Mourinho told reporters.
"They are friends, they are colleagues, they work together every day but at the end they compete between themselves to have more chances to play and Anthony played against Arsenal."
Martial, who has been accused of "going under the radar" this season by former Red Devil Gary Neville, scored 17 times in 49 appearances for Man United last season following his arrival from AS Monaco.
Matt Law
