José Mourinho praised the attitude of his Manchester United players to fight back from a goal down and advance past Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup, although he said Wayne Rooney and Phil Jones would both remain out for their midweek game in Saint-Étienne.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a late winner for United after Marcus Rashford had equalised for Mourinho’s men at Ewood Park following Danny Graham’s opener, and Chelsea lie in wait in the quarter-finals.

Although Blackburn are currently second bottom in the Championship, United were made to work for their victory and Mourinho was pleased with his side’s performance and attitude.

“The attitude of the players was good,” he said. “Sometimes you have difficult matches because you make it difficult for yourself. Tonight was difficult because Blackburn made it difficult for us. They played well and fought very hard. They were very well organised. We had to play well and we had to play with attitude to be ready and get a result.

“I had answers from some players, for example Ashley Young, so I can rest Antonio Valencia. When Ashley Young plays in this way, I can rest Antonio Valencia.

“It’s possible to win three, two, one or nil [cup competitions this season]. But when we are in the competitions we are going to fight. We are going to fight for that, but obviously the League Cup is the one where we have 50% possibility of winning. We have to fight for the 50% to become a title, then the next one is to get a result against Saint-Étienne in the last 16. Step by step.”

Mourinho confirmed that David De Gea was rested at Blackburn and that both Rooney and Jones would miss Wednesday’s Europa League game. The Portuguese said he was unsure if Rooney would return to full fitness for the League Cup final against Southampton. The Blackburn manager, Owen Coyle, was happy with his side’s display and hopes it will provide confidence in their attempt to avoid relegation. He said: “When we analyse the game I think we performed very well. I thought we were outstanding. Our cup finals start now on Friday at Burton.”