Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic not ready to start against Brighton

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho says striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is not ready to start tomorrow and feels Brighton will be a difficult team to beat.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho.

Ibrahimovic returned from a knee injury as a substitute in last weekend's 4-1 win at home to Newcastle and also came on in the 1-0 Champions League defeat at Basel on Wednesday.

However, Mourinho said: “No, he’s not ready, Step by step, minute by minute, match by match. He's not a player that you play only if the team is losing or only if the team is winning. He's a player that's easy to bring in to the game, so normally he's going to have these periods of 15-20 [minutes] and, one day, we will feel that he's physically ready [to start]."

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Looking ahead to tomorrow's game with Albion, Mourinho said: "They are ninth in the table, a good team, difficult to beat, don't concede many goals, a mixture of physicality, aggression with also quality and creativity.

Zlatan IbrahimovicZlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“I think Chris [Hughton] [has done] a great job since he took the team a few seasons ago and we must focus on this [match]. I know that we have a good record at home, I know that we are strong at home, but the opponent is going to be difficult for us.”