Amorim provides update on Mazraoui after Man Utd draw with Bournemouth and backs Hojlund to keep scoring | OneFootball

Ruben Amorim is confident Noussair Mazraoui will be ready to play against Athletic Club in the Europa League semi-final on Thursday after being taken off in the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.

Mazraoui was on the receiving end of a sliding challenge from Evanilson, for which the Bournemouth striker was shown a red card.

He was then taken off shortly after but Amorim says it was because he wanted to protect the defender.

“I think he’s okay,” Man Utd boss Amorim said. “He will be ready.

“In these kind of situations, in this moment, anything that could be a danger for a player in that position, we lost Dalot, we try to save that (player).”

Rasmus Hojlund grabbed a late equaliser for the Red Devils after Antoine Semenyo had given the Cherries a first-half lead, and Amorim believes it will be a confidence boost for the forward who has struggled for goals this season.

“I want to support my players,” he said. “I was a player and sometimes you have bad moments, difficult moments at a big club so I think it was a good moment for him but it’s just a goal.

“We like our strikers, we are improving our strikers and we will see what happens in the next season.”

In another boost for United, Luke Shaw started and played the entire game having endured another nightmare season with injury and Amorim admits it was not the plan for him to play every minute against Bournemouth.

“It was not the plan for him to have 90 minutes but you need to win games,” Amorim said.

“You could feel the overload in that part of the field. He’s really good at crosses, he’s really good in the final third decision, he has a lot of quality and when we are losing and drawing you don’t think about the next game. You need to win.”

And on a day where Liverpool could be crowned Premier League champions, Amorim insisted his side can get back to that level in the future.

“Everything can change,” he said.

“We need to focus step by step and not look too far ahead.

“We have the ultimate goal of winning the Premier League. Again, I’m not crazy, I know it won’t happen next year but we are trying to build something and the small things are really important.”