Zlatan will serve three game ban for Mings elbow

ZLATAN IBRAhIMOVIC will serve a three-match ban after admitting an FA charge of violent conduct for elbowing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings.

Manchester United’s top scorer pleaded guilty to the offence in saturday’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford as Jose Mourinho’s squad flew to Russia yesterday to face Rostov in their europa League last-16 tie.

Bournemouth will contest Mings’s violent conduct charge for his alleged stamp on Ibrahimovic and the FA’s recommendation that he serves a ban of more than three matches for the offence.

Ibrahimovic, who is available for tomorrow’s Rostov first leg, will miss Monday’s FA Cup quarter-final at Chelsea and the Premier League fixtures against Middlesbrough and West Bromwich.

Wayne Rooney, who could play a bigger role in Ibrahimovic’s absence, was left at home yesterday along with Luke shaw.

however, henrikh Mkhitaryan was on the flight after recovering from a hamstring injury.

Mourinho is ready to prioritise the europa League over the Premier League if United overcome the Russians to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

he embarked on the group stage of europe’s secondary tournament in september admitting United did not want to be in the competition. But Mourinho accepts the europa League could now offer a better opportunity of qualifying for the Champions League next season than finishing in the top four.

‘First position (in the Premier League) is impossible,’ he said. ‘second is possible and we have to fight for it. The europa League is very difficult, but it’s a target for us. If we beat Rostov and we find ourselves in the quarter-finals, then we have to think really seriously about the europa League.

‘When a team get in the last eight and you go to the quarter-final draw, you smell the final.

‘In a certain period of the season, I have to analyse my team, the players, the condition of everyone. Let’s see how we are in all the competitions and try to make the right decisions.’