Rooney trains, but not on plane to France

Wayne Rooney did not travel to France on Tuesday despite training with his Manchester United colleagues ahead of their Europa League clash with St Etienne.

Jose Mourinho has taken a 20-man squad to face Saint-Etienne, but Rooney did not travel.

United’s all-time record scorer has missed the past four games but participated in a session prior to the flight for the game with St Etienne, who were defeated 3-0 in the reverse fixture last week.

A muscular injury has sidelined Rooney for a length of time in which his team have pieced together a four-game winning streak.

Only midfielder Ander Herrera, who cannot play in the competition due to suspension, and birthday boy Phil Jones, who has been carrying a foot injury, were missing as Jose Mourinho watched on at the Aon Training Complex.

Luke Shaw was also overlooked for the squad heading to France for the last-32 second leg.

Rooney suggested on social media that Tuesday was his first session since injury and Darmian played at Blackburn on Sunday, yet Shaw has made just one appearance since November 30.

The left-back, having overcome niggling issues on the comeback from a horrific double leg break, has been fit since mid-January but only appeared in the FA Cup fourth-round win against Wigan.

Left out of United’s subsequent four squads, Shaw returned to the bench at Blackburn in Sunday’s FA Cup fifth-round tie.

Shaw looked likely to get a chance to impress at St Etienne – where United will boast a 3-0 lead from the first leg – yet the defender has surprisingly been left out of the squad for the Europa League encounter.

Mourinho is sure to face questions about the England international’s future and captain Rooney at Tuesday’s press conference at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.

Travelling squad:  De Gea, O’Hara, Romero; Bailly, Blind, Fosu-Mensah, Rojo, Smalling, Valencia, Young; Carrick, Fellaini, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Lingard, Schweinsteiger; Ibrahimovic, Martial, Rashford.