Man Utd lose Bailly to African Nations Cup before West Ham clash

Man Utd boss Jose Mourinho is frustrated with Ivory Coast after they refused to delay Eric Bailly's African Nations Cup departure by 24 hours.

Bailly returned to the starting XI in Saturday's 2-1 win over Middlesbrough and Mourinho hoped he would be available to take on West Ham on Monday.

That could not happen without the consent of his national side, who are preparing for the tournament in Gabon, and coach Michel Dussuyer was not willing to take the risk.

"Bailly is leaving - he goes to the national team," Mourinho said.

"He has to be with them on 2 January. We asked them for him to be on 3 January but they refused, so he cannot play against West Ham.

"With these kind of decisions they are controlling every second, so for sure they are going to win the African Cup.

"I know I lose Bailly for a month so I'm going to have (Chris) Smalling, (Marcus) Rojo, (Phil) Jones… three players for eight matches."