Bailly, the club’s Player of the Month for August, suffered a serious knee injury while playing against Chelsea on 23 October and duly watched the next eight matches in all competitions from the stands.
In a major boost for the manager and all Reds supporters, the Ivory Coast international has made a swift recovery and was encouragingly named as a substitute for Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Everton.
Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo both started at centre-back at Goodison Park for the fifth match in a row to later earn praise from Mourinho, who described their performances as “magnificent” and “phenomenal” following their own recent returns from the sidelines.
When speaking to MUTV after the final whistle at Goodison Park, the boss also commented on Bailly’s timely return at a point in the season when he will need to shuffle his defensive pack.
“We need that,” Mourinho said of Bailly’s availability. “It's impossible for the same players to play every match and in this moment we are having that because of a lack of available options.
“So to have Eric back is good news, even though it is only for a few weeks because we know he goes to the Africa Cup of Nations very soon [in January], but at least in this busy period of Christmas we have one more option. That's important.”
After sitting on the bench at Everton, Bailly will now hope to make his comeback from injury when United face Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk in the final Europa League Group A match on Thursday.
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