Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has revealed it was Romelu Lukaku's decision not to start in their FA Cup final loss to Chelsea on Saturday.

The Belgian was named on the bench at Wembley, with the attacking trio of Marcus Rashford, Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard seemingly preferred by the Red Devils boss.

Lukaku, who had been recovering from an ankle injury, eventually entered the game after 72 minutes, but he wasn't able to make a difference for his side as Chelsea ran out 1-0 winners thanks to Eden Hazard's first-half penalty.

Asked if it was a difficult decision not to start Lukaku, Mourinho denied complicity.

He said: "It's not a difficult decision. It was his decision. I knew the opponent was going to play again. I know they have a compact low block with lots of physicality where they try to close everything. I knew without a target man it would be difficult for us.

He continued: "When a player tells you he's not ready to play, that he's not ready to start the game, then the question is how many minutes do you think you can. But how can I convince a player who's not ready to play?"