"The manager (Jose Mourinho) says it is not true," a club
representative told Reuters on Friday.
Mourinho appeared to question the commitment of Smalling and
left back Luke Shaw after the England internationals missed
Sunday's 3-1 win over Swansea City.
The Portuguese manager said that Smalling "doesn't feel that he
can play 100 percent without pain", adding that there was "a
difference between the brave, who want to be there at any cost,
and the ones for whom a little pain can make a difference".
Both players were overlooked for England's World Cup qualifier
against Scotland on Friday with interim manager Gareth Southgate
telling reporters that "they are not fit and that's ruled them
out for us this time".
He did not specify what the injuries were.
"Obviously it's a difficult one because I don't know the reason
for the comments Jose's made," Southgate added. (Reporting by
Steve Tongue; Editing by John O'Brien)
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