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Mourinho praises Manchester United's attitude to advance past Blackburn

Phil Noble / Reuters

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho wasted no time in commending his players after fielding a youthful starting XI at Ewood Park on Sunday.

Following United's 3-1 victory at Blackburn Rovers in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Mourinho applauded the Red Devils' attitude and reminded supporters it's still possible for the club to win as many as three trophies this season. The Special One deployed a pace-loaded quartet featuring Jesse Lingard, Anthony Martial, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Marcus Rashford, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata started on the bench.

The contest was sandwiched between another tie, as United defeated AS Saint-Etienne three days ago in the Europa League's Round of 32 and will visit Les Verts for the second leg on Wednesday.

"The attitude of the players was good," Mourinho said, according to the Guardian's James Riach. "Sometimes you have difficult matches because you make it difficult for yourself. Tonight was difficult because Blackburn made it difficult for us. They played well and fought very hard. They were very well-organised. We had to play well and we had to play with attitude to be ready and get a result.

"I had answers from some players, for example Ashley Young, so I can rest Antonio Valencia. When Ashley Young plays in this way, I can rest Antonio Valencia.

"It's possible to win three, two, one, or nil (cup competitions this season). But when we are in the competitions we are going to fight. We are going to fight for that, but obviously the League Cup is the one where we have 50-percent possibility of winning. We have to fight for the 50 percent to become a title, then the next one is to get a result against Saint-Etienne in the last 16. Step by step."

Mourinho also confirmed David de Gea was rested at Blackburn, while Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones will miss Wednesday's trip to Saint-Etienne.

Following United's triumph at Ewood Park, the Red Devils were pitted against Chelsea in the FA Cup's draw for the quarter-finals, giving Mourinho a chance to get revenge after the Blues' 4-0 Premier League win at Old Trafford.

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