Romelu Lukaku is in line to play for Belgium against Cyprus on Tuesday after coach Roberto Martinez insisted the Manchester United striker is fit.

Lukaku missed the 4-3 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday with an ankle injury picked up before United's 4-0 win over Crystal Palace. The 24-year-old did not travel to Sarajevo and instead stayed behind in Brussels to continue his rehabilitation.

Belgium have already booked a place at next summer's World Cup in Russia. But speaking at a news conference on Monday, Martinez revealed Lukaku could feature in the final qualifier against Cyprus.

"Romelu Lukaku is fit," said the former Everton manager. "We are in touch with Manchester United's medical team. I haven't received a phone call from Jose Mourinho.

"The reason [Lukaku] wasn't in the squad in the previous game was because he wasn't 100 percent. Now he is 100 percent but we need to take into consideration that he has been with the group for only one session.

"He's been working on an individual basis, really good work, but we need to keep that in mind."

Mourinho already lost one Belgian international to injury after Marouane Fellaini was ruled out for two weeks with a knee ligament strain he picked up against Bosnia.

"It was a very unfortunate injury for Marouane Fellaini," he said. "I don't think the state of the pitch played any part and it was just a collision between two strong players who wanted to win the ball, and unfortunately Marouane ended up with damage in his ligament.

"But there was nothing wrong in that respect so the relationship is very, very good with Manchester United as you would expect."

Fellaini is set to miss United's trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on Saturday. Paul Pogba is already sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Lukaku, who needed pain-killing injections before he was passed fit to play in United's game against Palace, underwent a scan in Brussels last week, and although the results revealed no significant damage, he was unable to train ahead of the trip to Bosnia.

But after stepping up his recovery over the weekend, Martinez has confirmed he is available for selection against Cyprus.

Mourinho's team face Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday in a lunchtime kickoff before a Champions League trip to Benfica on Wednesday.

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Rob Dawson

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