Jose fears Bailly may be out for season

– Jose Mourinho admitted he is not certain if Manchester United defender Eric Bailly (right) will play again this season after revealing he may need surgery on a persistent ankle injury.

Bailly, 23, has not played for United since a defeat at Chelsea at the start of last month, having sustained the injury while on international duty with the Ivory Coast.

And United manager Mourinho, who signed the centreback from Villarreal last year, admits he is concerned by the lack of progress.

Speaking after Wednesday’s 1-0 victory over Bournemouth, Mourinho said: “I think it’s serious. I don’t know.”

In Bailly’s absence, England pair Chris Smalling and Phil Jones had established themselves as Mourinho’s centreback pairing of choice until Marcos Rojo returned from a long-term injury lay-off of his own recently.

“Tonight we had Smalling and Jones,” said Mourinho. “Lindelof was on the bench, Blind was on the bench, Marcos Rojo was injured, but nothing serious.”

One player who was not involved in the victory over Bournemouth was midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who has started just one league game since the end of October, and has been left out of the squad entirely in recent games.

“I can only have six players on the bench,” said Mourinho. “And I try to have some balance on the bench.” –