Gareth Southgate says he empathises with Jose Mourinho's issues regarding how England handled an injured Phil Jones during the most recent international break, but added he trusts his medical team to make the right calls.
Jones limped off with a thigh injury in England's 0-0 friendly draw with Germany earlier this month. While Southgate said immediately after the game he didn't expect the injury to be serious, Mourinho slammed the FA's medical team for their recklessness, claiming the United centre-back had been given six injections before finally breaking down against the defending world champions.
Jones has not participated in any of United's three matches since the injury. And Southgate, speaking ahead of Friday's World Cup draw, told reporters he feels for Mourinho in the situation he's been given.
"First and foremost I have massive empathy with Jose," Southgate said. "As a manager you don't want to lose players to injury. For me, as the national coach, that's the worst scenario when a player goes back to his club and is not able to play.
"Manchester United are incredibly supportive of everything we do. Sometimes people suggest that is not the case but they are arguably our most supportive club.
"We are very conscious of our relation with them. We have got ongoing dialogue over this situation -- it is a complex one and we want to make sure we get these things right.
"Equally I have every trust in our medical team that they make the right calls. They are very experienced people and this is an unfortunate situation and we hope Phil is back playing as soon as he can be."