Jose Mourinho says Henrikh Mkhitaryan's injury isn't serious
Mkhitaryan scored his first Premier League goal for Manchester United yesterday in the 1-0 win over Tottenham but left the field on a stretcher after being fouled by Danny Rose.
The Armenia international has been in brilliant form for United of late, scoring two and assisting two in his last four appearances.
But United will be without their star midfielder for away games at Crystal Palace and West Brom with their home match against Sunderland on Boxing Day the target for a return.
And Mourinho has admitted his disappointment that United will be unable to call upon his services for part of the festive period.
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Jose Mourinho hopes Mkhitaryan will be back before Christmas
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Mkhitaryan is expected to miss games against Crystal Palace and West Brom
“Hopefully he can play Christmas," said Mourinho. "We believe it’s possible.
“When I saw him on the stretcher I thought was more difficult. When I saw the tackle on TV I was a bit scared.
“It’s a pity because he’s going to miss matches in his best period.”
Mkhitaryan had just hit the kind of form - with two goals in four days - that prompted Mourinho to buy him for £26m from Borussia Dortmund in the summer.
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Mkhitaryan has been in brilliant form for Manchester United of late
He struggled with the intensity and demands of the Premier League at first, but Mourinho says that is not uncommon for overseas players coming to England and he had every faith he would come good because he was a target he was a player he identified to United's hierarchy as one of his top transfer targets.
And he praised the player for not complaining when he was not even included in the match day squad on occasions.
He added: “I have had players with a similar adaptation process. But we bought him, he was not a player chosen by other people.
“We bought him because I asked the club to do it because I liked the player, I analysed the player so it would be more frustrating for me if everything went wrong.
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“But he needed the period of adaptation at every level and in that period he was a great professional because maybe another guy in this position would find excuses.
“He would blame the manager, he would blame the pitch, he would blame the weather, he would blame something, like many of the players now do.
“He was quiet, he closed his mouth, worked really hard waiting for this opportunity and is playing so well now.
“But hopefully it’s not a few matches out that are going to stop his evolution.”
