United, who travel to the Etihad Stadium on Thursday, were rarely troubled as first-half goals from Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney gave them the win at Turf Moor, taking them to within a point of their fourth-placed neighbours.

Mourinho said United may not be able to play Pogba after the midfielder, who completed the 120 minutes of Thursday's Europa League win over Anderlecht, went off in stoppage time after taking a knock.

"I don't know," he told a news conference, saying Pogba was "dead" following his recent exertions.

"I don't know if he's injured or if it's just the accumulation of fatigue in the muscles, I don't know," Mourinho added.

"But if he cannot play Thursday, then he cannot play Thursday. We play another one and we don't cry."

Mourinho told the BBC he was "very happy" with his side's overall performance.

"It's not easy to win here, and it's even harder to be in control -- and we were in control for 90 minutes," he said.

"We understood the way they play and we played against their strengths. I think it was a great result that we deserved."

Anthony Martial celebrates his goal with Wayne Rooney.

Mourinho said he had brought Martial into the lineup "to get behind as he's faster, and he did well" but added: "I can't choose an individual performance as they all did well."

The manager said everyone at United was "very sad" about the knee injuries suffered by Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo against Anderlecht.

"We were thinking about them. They have to be strong," he said. "Surgery is waiting for them, but don't want to say too much as it's their privacy."

Mourinho added that United "have a 25 percent chance to win the Europa League, and we have to put everything on it."

Looking ahead to the derby, he said: "In terms of expectation, in terms of emotion for the game, it's better for a derby with one point difference than with four. It was a good victory for us.''

Goal scorer Rooney told Sky Sports he felt "strong" after only his second start of 2017, adding that the result had set United up perfectly for the derby.

"The lads who have come in have given the manager something to think about. We've both scored. It's great to have options.

"It's a big game on Thursday. There's a fight for the top four, and we're both in the fight. We'll be ready."