Jose Mourinho has claimed that Manchester United's mounting list of injury absentees 'is a blessing' as it will make his players "mentally stronger".
The Red Devils head into this weekend's Premier League meeting against Swansea City without as many as eight squad members through injury and suspension.
United's misery was compounded last week when Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo both damaged cruciate knee ligaments in the same game against Anderlecht, joining centre-back duo Phil Jones and Chris Smalling on the sidelines.
With Juan Mata and Paul Pogba also missing from midfield, and Marouane Fellaini picking up a three-game ban last time out, Mourinho insists that his side are currently experiencing something "unique".
"It's very hard [when] we arrive in an extreme situation where, I think it must be unique in football, where we have two cruciate ligaments in the same match," he told reporters. "In my career I had one in 17 years. One cruciate in 17 years. And now, against Anderlecht, I have two. In one match.
"We are very unlucky is the only thing we can say, and the other small injuries, the Pogba one, Valencia last week, are the injuries of fatigue, the accumulation of matches, which is normal. Smalling and Jones were with the English national team, training.
"So maybe it's a blessing, an opportunity to make the team stronger, maybe it's an opportunity to make them mentally stronger. Maybe it's a blessing, so let's see if they can comeback."
Fringe player Timothy Fosu-Mensah is another who is expected to spend time on the sidelines after picking up an injury when brought off the bench against Manchester City.
Daniel Lewis
