Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has revealed that he intends to field "a good team" against Derby County, as he expects a tough game against 'Premier League-level' opposition.
The Rams head to Old Trafford on the back of an impressive run of form over the past few months, even accounting for two draws in their last three outings.
Mourinho is unwilling to take any risks with a place in round four of the FA Cup up for grabs, having seen his side knocked out of the EFL Cup at the quarter-final stage by another Championship side in Bristol City, but back-up stopper Sergio Romero will be handed a start.
"I'm going to do the same against Derby County; I'm going to play with a good team, then the result is out of your control but to go with a strong team with first-team players, first-choice players, for sure," he told reporters.
"I'm going to play this match like a Premier League match and I'm going to play Romero because Romero is a top, top goalkeeper and he deserves to play and David [de Gea] deserves a rest. Romero is going to be Argentina's goalkeeper in the World Cup in a few months, so for all that Romero means to us Romero plays and apart from that I am going to play with a team I consider a very strong team.
"The draw was not nice to us because we are going to play against a Premier League team," Mourinho told a news conference on Thursday ahead of the third-round tie at Old Trafford. If you look to the [Derby] players they are not Championship players, they are Premier League players.
"I think I played against the majority of them in the Premier League. So when you go to [Scott] Carson, Curtis Davies, [Joe] Ledley, [Matej] Vydra, [Tom] Huddlestone, I played against all of them."
Romero, linked with a January exit from Old Trafford, has started five games this season for United.
Daniel Lewis
