Jose confident strikers will end drought...

BUT MOURINHO ADMITS REDS ‘NEED TO SCORE MORE GOALS’

JOSE Mourinho has backed United’s misfiring strikers Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford to end their droughts soon as the Reds remain reliant on Anthony Martial’s goalscoring spurt.

Lukaku has not scored in nine matches and Rashford’s has tallied just one this season.

The United defence has already shipped 17 Premier League goals in 10 games when they did not let in that amount until their 25th match last term.

Mourinho lamented United’s lack of a ‘killer instinct’ after last Sunday’s win over Everton, but offered his support for Lukaku, who could be recalled at Bournemouth today.

“Lack of goals and too many goals conceded,” Mourinho added. “I think everything is about the team.

“I don’t like to say we don’t score many goals because our strikers aren’t scoring, I don’t like to say we concede too many goals because my goalkeeper does not save anything.

“I think it is about the globality. It is about the team.

“We need, obviously, to score more goals.

“We were punished against Chelsea because we didn’t score the third goal, and we could.

“We went to minute 96th against Everton with a corner because we didn’t score the third, the fourth, the fifth before that.

“Yes, we need to score more goals but I think the team with more confidence, the players individually with more confidence, and more goals will arrive for them.

“Lukaku doesn’t score for nine matches. Do I think in the next nine matches he’s going to score zero goals? No, I think in the next nine matches he’s going to score a few goals.” Mourinho added he was not surprised by Bournemouth’s fine start to the campaign. The Cherries are sixth and three points above United ahead of today’s fixture at the Vitality Stadium. “Not really,” Mourinho replied when he was asked about Bournemouth’s form. “You know their story is a story that doesn’t surprise really, because after the promotion was the season of being a Premier League team and stay as a Premier League team and then stability and now they want more stability and they are fighting for these Europa League positions, just below the top four target that is a very, very difficult target for anyone. “But fantastic work, great stability, same manager, same players basically, clinical scouting work, clinical decisions about who to buy and when to buy, so I wouldn’t say big surprise for me.”

We were punished against Chelsea because we didn’t score the third goal, and we could Jose Mourinho