Mourinho's high hopes for Henrikh

MANCHESTER United boss Jose Mourinho is hopeful Henrikh Mkhitaryan will shake off his ankle injury in time for the Christmas fixture schedule.

Mkhitaryan had turned in another man-of-the-match display during Sunday's home win against Tottenham before a tackle from Danny Rose led to the summer signing being stretchered off.

The Armenian marked his performance with the winning goal and although he will play no part in the away games at Crystal Palace tomorrow and West Brom on Saturday, Mourinho is expecting him back sooner rather than later.

"Hopefully he can play at Christmas," Mourinho said.

POSSIBLE

"We believe it's possible, so when I saw him on a stretcher I thought it was more difficult.

"When I watched the tackle on TV I was a bit scared. It's a pity because he's going to miss matches in his best period, but at least we don't lose the player for so long."

Mourinho was full of praise for Mkhitaryan's strength of mind in turning his fortunes round.

The former Borussia Dortmund player has taken his time to shine in the Premier League, but scored his first goal for the club in last Thursday's Europa League win against Zorya Luhansk and followed up with an emphatic finish on Sunday.

"We bought him because I asked the club to do it because I like the player, I analysed the player," Mourinho said.

"So it would be even more frustrating for me if everything went wrong, but he needed a period of adaptation at every level."

United will play French side St Etienne in the last 32 of the Europa League.

United qualified as Group 'A' runners-up and were paired with Christophe Galtier's team, who beat Anderlecht in their final Group 'C' game to pip the Belgian outfit to top spot.

Tottenham were handed the short trip to Belgium to face Group 'H' runners-up Gent, who qualified by winning their final match against Konyaspor.

United boss Jose Mourinho welcomed the short trip to France after a Group 'A' campaign which saw his side travel to Turkey and Ukraine to face Fenerbahce and Zorya Luhansk respectively.

Europa League draw -

Athletic Bilbao v Apoel Nicosia; Legia Warsaw v Ajax; Anderlecht v Zenit; Astra v Genk; MAN UTD v Saint-Etienne; Villarreal v Roma; Ludogorets v FC Copenhagen; Celta Vigo v Shakhtar Donetsk; Olympiakos v Osmanlispor; Gent v Tottenham; Rostov v Sparta Prague; Krasnodar v Fenerbahce; Monchengladbach v Fiorentina; AZ Alkmaar v Lyon; Hapoel Beer Sheva v Besiktas; PAOK v Schalke.