Chelsea vs Manchester United: Jose Mourinho dismisses United injury worries, saying 'they have an amazing squad'

United are without four key first-team players

Jose Mourinho's Chelsea are seven points clear at the top of the league (Getty Images)

Jose Mourinho dismissed Manchester United’s injury worries ahead of tomorrow’s game at Stamford Bridge saying that Louis van Gaal has an “amazing” squad with enough cover for his absentees.

The United manager announced earlier in the day that he would be without the injured Michael Carrick, Marcos Rojo, Phil Jones and Daley Blind leaving him with a major reorganisation of his defence and midfield. But Mourinho said there were more than enough players in the United squad to cover Van Gaal for today’s Premier League match.

Asked whether United were weakened, Mourinho said: “I disagree because their squad is amazing, in numbers, players, experience, solutions. Their squad is amazing. Every week I have in my office not the team I'm going to play against, but on the big screen the squad and all the options. This week, when I arrived in the room, for the first time in the week, I realised what they have. It's amazing.”

“You want me to name their players? Mata, Di Maria, Januzaj, Rooney, Van Persie, Herrera, Carrick, Blind, Fellaini.”

“[In defence] Rafael and Valencia, Luke Shaw left-back, centre-backs Smalling. Of course they don't have Evans and Jones, but Blackett, McNair. They played. Van Gaal is a fantastic coach to develop players. The kids played a lot of matches and are more than ready.

“I went to QPR with Drogba and no strikers on the bench and, for a long time, because of suspensions or injuries or your suspensions – I don't forget that 'you' [the media] decided who was suspended – we were in trouble. You have to cope with it. I know Mr Van Gaal very well, and he's the kind of person to think at this moment ‘We have a fantastic squad and will go with what we have. Injuries are part of the game’”.

Mourinho has Loic Remy back in training and says that the striker, who missed the game against Queen’s Park Rangers, has a “better than 50-50” chance of playing tomorrow. He also said that Diego Costa was making good progress in his recovery and could be back to face Arsenal a week on Sunday.

The game also marks the first return of Juan Mata to Stamford Bridge since he left 15 months ago. Mourinho said his thoughts on the matter were “not important”. “He's a player with a history in this club. Every player in this club has deep respect for him as a player, as does the manager. We all wished him the best when he left. We are all happy with him: a very correct boy, total professional. We're happy things are going well with him.”

Mourinho said that Chelsea would go for the wins in their next two games against United and Arsenal rather than play safe and try to settle for a point. “What is my mind is to try and win the three points tomorrow. That's what crosses my mind. We know three results are possible, but we are just thinking about winning the game. After the result, we will see what happens. But we think match after match and try to win the match we have.”