Mourinho reveals Smalling won't return to action from his broken toe until Christmas
Football
By
Mirror
| Dec 09, 2016
Jose Mourinho has revealed Chris Smalling will not be back for Manchester United until Christmas - at the earliest.
Smalling has not played for United since their 4-0 defeat at Chelsea on October 23, when he needed pain-killing injections to combat a foot injury.
It subsequently emerged the defender was suffering from a broken toe, which is set to keep the England international sidelined for two months.
Mourinho is desperate for Smalling to return as quickly as possible, with defender Eric Bailly - who has himself just returned from injury - away on Africa Cup of Nations duty in January with Ivory Coast.
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"He [Bailly] is a big loss but we know that," said Mourinho.
"So let's hope that Smalling can recover in time to replace him in the squad.
"I think the end of year, by Christmas [Smalling will be back].
"With so many matches, we need players. In this moment, I think we have Phil Jones, Bailly and Marcos Rojo.
"We play Tottenham, we play Crystal Palace, West Bromwich, Reading, the semi-finals [of the EFL Cup] and West Ham away.
"In that period we have lots of matches and it's important to have more options."
Luke Shaw, who is suffering from a muscle injury, will not be fit for Sunday's visit of Tottenham, according to Mourinho.