Wayne Rooney misses Manchester United training ahead of Europa League clash with Saint-Etienne
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Wayne Rooney was the most high-profile absentee from Manchester United training on Wednesday.
The United skipper missed the session, along with Michael Carrick and Phil Jones, ahead of Thursday's Europa League first leg last 32 tie against Saint-Etienne at Old Trafford.
Rooney, who missed United's recent win over Leicester due to illness, hasn't started a game for United since their EFL Cup semi-final first-leg win over Hull on January 10.
It is unclear why Rooney and Carrick missed training but Jones remains sidelined with the hamstring injury he sustained against Hull a fortnight ago.
The remainder of United's squad trained under the watchful eye of manager Jose Mourinho ahead of the encounter at Old Trafford.
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Paul Pogba, who will come up against brother Florentin, the Saint-Etienne defender, on Thursday night, appeared joyful at the Red Devils' Carrington training complex, while Marcus Rashford was photographed laughing with boss Mourinho.
Anthony Martial, fresh from his match-winning performance against Watford at the weekend, also trained, and earlier this week he previewed the match's impending battle between the Pogba brothers.
"They are well known for being big jokers and mickey-takers but, once they are on the field, it will be like two warriors who are going all out to win the game," Martial told ManUtd.com .
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"If one beats the other, he’ll immediately start giving out loads of stick so they’ll be desperate to do all they can to win!"
The match is also of added significance to Martial as he used to play for one of Saint-Etienne's biggest rivals, Olympique Lyonnais.
"There was a huge rivalry while I was still at Lyon – it was always a highly-charged atmosphere and they were usually massive games, the kind all players love to play in," Martial, 21, added.
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"Of course, it would be great if I could score against them again, but I hope we can win the game because that’s the most important thing, then it would be a bonus if I managed to grab a goal.
"They have a tremendous following and I’m sure it will be lively — even more so as they’re not used to playing against big clubs like United.
"There’s always a great atmosphere there, even against the smaller teams, so I can’t imagine what it will be like against us.
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“It will be up to us to put it out of our minds."
United have lost just once in all competitions since they were beaten by Fenerbahce in the group phase on November 3 last year.
Mourinho is expected to take the knock-out stages of the competition seriously as it represents a good chance for United to qualify for next season's Champions League.