Manchester United defender Eric Bailly fit to return for the FA Cup fifth round tie with Huddersfield Town
Jose Mourinho confirmed in Friday's press conference the Ivorian centre-back could feature in the clash in Yorkshire
MANCHESTER UNITED defender Eric Bailly is fit to return for the FA Cup fifth round tie with Huddersfield on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho confirmed in Friday's press conference the Ivorian centre-back could feature in the clash at the John Smith's Stadium.
United star Bailly hasn't played since the 1-0 loss away to Chelsea on November 5 thanks to an ankle injury.
Since joining the Old Trafford squad from Villarreal in 2016, the £30million signing has played just 48 times out of a possible 103 games.
But Bailly's return will serve as a major boost for United's back-line, which has looked shaky in recent weeks.
Phil Jones and particularly Chris Smalling copped plenty of flak for the performance in the 1-0 win away to Newcastle.
Despite Bailly's absence, Mourinho was confident in his defence in December.
At the time, he claimed: "I don't want to be pessimistic, I want to leave it with the doctor.
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"But you see, we play with Smalling and Jones, we have Lindelof on the bench, Blind on the bench, Marcos Rojo is injured but nothing really big...
"So during all season we have problems with central defenders, but because the number is four or five, we manage always to have.
"And Chris Smalling is playing amazingly well, I think seven or eight matches in a row, so we are fine."
Bailly has only played ten times for Man United this season - and just eight in the league.
He scored in their second Premier League clash of the 2017-18 campaign, in a 4-0 drubbing of Swansea in South Wales.