Luke Shaw will finally get the chance to prove he has the stomach for the fight at Manchester United as Jose Mourinho prepares to bring the defender in from the cold.

The England left-back has a chance of being included in United’s 18-man squad for the trip to Stoke City on Saturday but, failing that, he is expected to feature in the EFL Cup semi-final away at Hull City a week on Jan 26 and the FA Cup fourth-round tie at home to Wigan Athletic three days later.

Shaw has not been involved in a match-day since being taken off at half-time of the 4-1 EFL Cup win victory over West Ham United on Nov 30, and while niggling injuries have been partly to blame, he has been fit for the past fortnight but not selected.

Signed amid great expectations in a £28 million deal from Southampton in June 2014, Shaw has since fallen behind Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian and Daley Blind in the pecking order but Mourinho is willing to give the player an opportunity to show he has a future at Old Trafford over the coming weeks.

Mourinho suggested after the 1-1 draw with Liverpool on Sunday that he had not selected Shaw because he wanted a more defensive minded left-back with right-back Antonio Valencia pushed up on the opposite flank.