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Pogba wants Man United to 'wake up'

Frenchman issues rallying call as Red Devils are hit by Young's ban and injuries

Paul Pogba has called on Manchester United to "wake up" after a third straight draw over the Christmas period.

Draws against Leicester and Burnley either side of Christmas severely undermined United's status as challengers to Manchester City and Saturday's 0-0 stalemate at home to Southampton means they were 15 points adrift of City before this morning's game against Everton at Goodision Park.

Even then, the problems are mounting for manager Jose Mourinho, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's knee problem keeping him out for a month and Romelu Lukaku taken off on a stretcher after a nasty clash of heads with Wesley Hoedt.

Wing-back Ashley Young will miss United's next three matches following his acceptance of a violent conduct charge after he appeared to elbow Dusan Tadic during Saturday's stalemate.

Speaking ahead of this morning's match against Everton, Pogba told MUTV: "We didn't lose but we have to wake up, bounce back and get back to winning.

"We drew again. Three draws, we have to win, something has to change and we have to change to win.

"Tomorrow's another day and we have to go out there and win."

On the injury to top-scorer Lukaku, Pogba said: "When we have Romelu, he makes it difficult for defenders and creates so much space as well.

"He's a big miss for us but we have the team to fill the gap of Romelu."

Medical staff took every precaution in treating a potentially concerning head injury, placing the Belgian on a stretcher and fitting an oxygen mask.

By full-time, Mourinho was confident the worst-case scenarios had been ruled out and was instead predicting a two-match lay-off for the forward.

This means Lukaku is unlikely to play in Saturday morning's FA Cup third-round clash with Derby County as well, with Marcus Rashford set to replace him.

Mourinho, however, chose to look at the positives, even citing his side's League Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of second-tier Bristol City, reported British media.

If United had won, they would be facing Manchester City in the two-legged semi-final on Jan 10 and Jan 24.

Said Mourinho: "The fact that we don't play the (League Cup) semi-final is a good thing for us.

"We have no players to play these two possible extra matches in January.

"The boys are trying but we have lots of problems. We lost Ibrahimovic for a month. We've lost Lukaku, I don't know for how long.

"I don't remember the last time Fellaini played. It was long time ago. Michael Carrick played in pre-season but I don't remember him playing during the season so we have problems. We have difficulty now to rotate players.

"I feel unlucky but unlucky in football? You have to change, which is what we try to do.

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