Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho explains David De Gea and Antonio Valencia’s exclusion during their 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup on Sunday.

Both De Gea and Valencia were rested in the FA Cup win over Blackburn Rovers, while Phil Jones and Wayne Rooney missed out due to their respective injuries.

De Gea was not in the squad at Ewood Park and was replaced by Sergio Romero, who made his eighth start of the season, with young goalkeeper Dean Henderson sitting on the bench as back-up.

Meanwhile, Valencia was also omitted from the squad, which allowed Ashley Young to make his 12th appearance of the season in all competitions.

The 54-year-old has revealed that the Spanish shot-stopper was rested for the FA Cup tie while Rooney and Jones were sidelined with their respective injuries.

‘De Gea was rested,’ Mourinho told the Manchester United website.

‘Rooney is injured. Jones is injured. I don’t think they will recover [to face Saint-Etienne on Wednesday]. Valencia was rested, but Rooney and Jones haven’t trained with the team yet so I don’t think they will be there for Wednesday.’

Manchester United will now turn their attention to the Europa League when they face Saint-Etienne in their second leg tie at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Wednesday.

Kick-off has been scheduled for 19:00.