Wayne Rooney Still Not Fit Enough

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has been omitted from the squad to face Anderlecht in the Europa League quarterfinal first leg on Thursday.

Manager Jose Mourinho had also left Rooney, 31, out of his squads against Saint Etienne and FC Rostov in the round of 32 and round of 16 in the competition.

The England captain — who has made only one start in the Premier League since Dec. 17 — sat out the last two league games with ankle problems. But although he trained this week, he was not fit enough to travel to Belgium with the United party and may be a doubt for Sunday’s game with Chelsea.

“He is not happy with his condition,” Mourinho told a news conference. “He’s trying to work, which he does, but he’s not confident, he’s not happy.

“He has bad feelings with his ankle and he’s not ready to play. Let’s see for the weekend, let’s see for next week. We don’t have many players and need everyone to try to be available. For tomorrow, no.”

Rooney has been increasingly linked with a move away from Old Trafford, with reports suggesting that either the Chinese Super League or MLS are his likeliest destinations.

Meanwhile, goalkeeper David De Gea, who missed Sunday’s victory at Sunderland with a minor injury, has been included in the squad.

Anderlecht said strong security measures would be in place at Thursday’s game just over a year after 32 people died in terrorist attacks in Brussels and hours after three explosions hit the Borussia Dortmund team coach ahead of a Champions League game, injuring defender Marc Bartra. And spokesman David Steegen said: “We are prepared.”

Mourinho, though, prefers to focus on the game itself, saying: “I try not to think too much about it. I try to focus on our job and to focus on why we’re there to play. This is quarterfinal, we have to be focused on it and that’s what we try to do.

“Obviously, solidarity with what happened yesterday with the players that cannot play today, with the people that were scared.

“As I was saying, we have to trust the people who are working with our security. We have to believe that the match tomorrow will be what people want it to be — a very good game. I try to focus on the football.”

United have won the three previous ties between the sides, most recently in the Champions League in 2000-01, while their record win was a 10-0 victory against Anderlecht in 1956.

But Mourinho is taking nothing for granted.

“They’re a threat, they are,” he added. “They are a good team. They know how to play, they have a certain way of playing. I think they have adapted to the qualities of their players and you know I think we have to play at our highest level.

“We have to play a second match at Old Trafford in the Europa League. We are very strong, we win every match at Old Trafford in the Europa League. We have that second-leg as a possible protection but, tomorrow, is important to play well. If we don’t play well we could find ourselves in difficulty.”