MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has said he will not take any risks with players' fitness in Sunday's Premier League match at Brentford ahead of the Europa League semi-final second leg clash with Athletic Bilbao four days later.
United enjoyed a 3-0 win over Athletic on Thursday and Amorin stressed that the European competition is their priority as the only silverware up for grabs as they languish 14th in the Premier League.
"The first thing is that the players who are at risk to get injured will not play, no matter what," Amorim told reporters after the victory. "And then we are going to assess (on Friday) and the next day, who are the best players to start the game.
"Then we have to be careful because we are Manchester United and we cannot go to a game without thinking we can win this game. So the process is going to be like that. It's going to be tough, but we passed so many things this year. It's one more. Let's see."
Noussair Mazraoui has already been ruled out of Sunday's match, after being withdrawn on Thursday with Amorim saying the defender is tired and "at the limit to get an injury."
Young players Harry Amass, Tyler Fredricson, Jaydan Kamason, Bendito Mantato and Chido Obi could all feature on Sunday' having been among the players who travelled to Spain.
Thursday's match saw winger Amad Diallo and central defender Matthijs de Ligt return to action in a big boost.
Amorim called Diallo's return massive as he offered a different attacking option. Diallo, who came on in the 84th minute, had nine goals and eight assists before suffering an ankle injury in February that had threatened to end his season.
"It was really tough on us because in that moment, (Diallo) was the player that created all the situations and then passed a little bit for Bruno (Fernandes)," Amorim said.
"So to lose a player like that in that moment with a lot of games was really hard for us and especially for Amad because he was leaving (us at) a good moment.
"But now he's returning. You can feel that he's not so explosive in the moment, but he's a player with a characteristic left foot, different from (Alejandro) Garnacho, that has one against one. And we don't have many players to do that. So it's massive for us. And he's one more option to play."
(Reporting by Lori Ewing; Editing by Ken Ferris)
