Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says striker Romelu Lukaku will miss some time after being hit in the head in Saturday's draw against Southampton.
The Red Devils technically didn't suffer a defeat in the 0-0 tie, but did leave Old Trafford with a substantial loss.
Lukaku was subbed out for Marcus Rashford in the 14th minute of the Premier League affair in Manchester, England.
United midfielder Nemanja Matic flicked a ball forward with his head to begin the sequence. Lukaku jumped up to receive the ball, with his back toward the Southampton net. Saints defender Wesley Hoedt ran in to contest Lukaku from behind. Hoedt hit the back of Lukaku's head.
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The Red Devils' striker immediately held his head with his left hand as he fell to the pitch. United's medical staff ran onto the field and carried him off.
"Zlatan is one month out," Mourinho said after the game, according to the team website. "I don't know about [Romelu] Lukaku. Of course, you miss your striker and your target man. You only have two attacking players on the bench, Rashford and [Anthony] Martial and you lose one of them immediately. I wanted a third change late in the game and I didn't have a third attacking player so that's difficult."
BBC Sport reported that Lukaku was conscious when he was taken off while wearing an oxygen mask.
"That's football," Mourinho told MUTV. "He was just unlucky. I think the Dutch central defender goes with him for the ball and it's unlucky for Romelu and unlucky for Hoedt. It was nothing aggressive and, hopefully, nothing important. But the first consequence of is he didn't play for the rest of the game."
"I know that normally bad, bad news arrives immediately. Bad news didn't arrive. I think that there's a problem for the next two matches. For sure."
Lukaku, 24, has 15 goals in 30 games for United.
