Wayne Rooney has again been dropped by Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho.
The England captain was benched for United's match against Leicester last weekend - which they convincingly won 4-1, making Rooney's prospects of starting in the league again more remote.
But a home tie in the Europa League against Ukrainian side Zorya? Surely the perfect game for Rooney to get some match time and regain his confidence.
Well, apparently not.
He has once again been named on the bench as Mourinho goes with Marcus Rashford and Zlatan Ibrahimovic up front.
https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/781551525894168576
The Old Trafford boss had hinted he may leave him out. He said earlier this week: "He has had a back problem, so has not managed to train at full intensity all week. He is recovered now, but only just returning to training with the rest of the players. At the start of the week I was completely convinced he would play the whole game, but now I am not so sure."
"I am here to protect him, not to put him into difficult situations. With the situation now created around him he really cannot afford to have a performance that is not really good. I have to analyse if the best thing for him is to start the game. If he is not totally ready for it and I will discuss it with the player and the medical staff, he might start on the bench."
And so he does.
