Injuries mar United’s Europa march

play sooner than expected. Maybe instead of mid-May, you can come back to play in early May.”

Asked when the pair might likely return to action, Mourinho replied: “If it was me, I think tomorrow.”

Mourinho had kinder words for leftback Luke Shaw, after publicly and sharply criticizing the England international on several occasions in recent weeks.

“Luke did something new for me that means a lot to me,” Mourinho said.

“After 90 minutes, before I knew that I have to change Zlatan, Luke had cramps. I had Ashley Young ready to come on, but Luke told me, ‘I am going to play these 30 minutes with cramps. No problem. If you need to make a change in another position, do it, because I’m ready for it.’

“These are the kind of things that make me have trust in a player. Mentality is fundamental.

Mourinho also expressed reservations about reports England Under-21 coach Aidy Boothroyd plans to call Rashford up for the Under-21 European Championship in Poland.

“He cannot play every game,” Mourinho said after being asked if Rashford was capable of filling in for Ibrahimovic.

“On top of that, I think you are trying to take him for the Euro Under-21s. It’s hard for the kid in terms of playing every match, but I always trust the players with a special mentality.”

Rashford teed up Henrikh Mkhitaryan for a 10th-minute goal that put United 2-1 up on aggregate, only for captain Sofiane Hanni to equalize for Anderlecht in the 32nd minute.

Roared on by its raucous away support, Anderlecht gave United several scares before finally succumbing in the 107 th minute.

“We played a very good match. Unfortunately the result isn’t so good,” said the Belgians’ coach, Rene Weiler.

“We played very well in the first half. We equalized, but couldn’t score a second goal. When you concede a winner in extra time, it’s always difficult to find a way back.”

Elsewhere, Ajax reached its first European semifinal in 20 years with a 4-3 aggregate win over Schalke after”extra time and Celta Vigo reached a European semifinal for the first time after a 1-1 draw at Genk gave it a 4-3 aggregate win over the Belgians.

In Istanbul, Lyon beat Besiktas 7-6 on penalties after the Turkish side had won 2-1 on the night to level the tie at 3-3.