Man Utd Team News: Mourinho Offers Update On Pogba & Smalling Ahead Of Southampton

Manchester United will look to build on their opening weekend win over Bournemouth when they welcome Southampton to Old Trafford on Friday night.

Ahead of that game, Jose Mourinho has been speaking to the media at his pre-match press conference this afternoon and he’s given ManUtd.com a team news update.

The Portuguese coach was pleased to confirm that world record signing Paul Pogba is ready to make his second debut for the club following his big-money move from Juventus.

Pogba was forced to miss the Premier League opener against Bournemouth after the Football Association confirmed that his one-match ban in the Coppa Italia during his time with Juve last season had been transferred to English football.

However, the 23-year-old is now available for selection and Mourinho has confirmed that the midfielder is fit enough to play ‘some minutes’ but it’s highly unlikely we’ll see Pogba play the entire game against Southampton tomorrow night.

“He’s [Pogba] ready to play. We played against Leicester with players with less training than him and we look at that match as a way to improve them, to accelerate that process.

“With Paul, it’s a bit of the same – not one single minute of any pre-season match or friendly but almost two weeks of work with us. Sometimes with the group, sometimes separately, and the condition is okay to play some minutes and to accelerate the process.”

In a double boost for United, Mourinho also confirmed that Chris Smalling is fit and available for selection after serving his one-match ban after being sent off in last season’s FA Cup final win over Crystal Palace.

It means that Mourinho now has a fully-fit squad to choose from with Jesse Lingard expected to shake-off a minor ankle injury as United go searching for their second consecutive win at the start of the new season.