Mkhitaryan: I'll fight to achieve my Man Utd dream

Henrikh Mkhitaryan insists he will fight for his future at Manchester United despite a lack of playing time under Jose Mourinho.

The Armenia star, who was signed from Borussia Dortmund in July for a reported fee of £26.3 million, has not featured in a Premier League game since being withdrawn at half-time of the defeat to Manchester City in September, his only start in the league so far.

Mkhitaryan was used as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce but was left out of the squad altogether for the victory over Swansea on Sunday.

Speculation has persisted that the 27-year-old could be allowed to leave Old Trafford as early as January, but Mkhitaryan is adamant that he does not want to leave.

"It's true that I've not had much time on the pitch so far. But I will not give up," he was quoted as saying by Sport Bild after his appointment as a UNICEF ambassador.

"I worked hard in my career and it was a long journey to play for Manchester United. I will continue to fight to make my dream come true at United.

"I will not give up and I'll find the strength to achieve that goal."

Mourinho insisted last week that Mkhitaryan must prove himself at Old Trafford before he will be trusted with a first-team role.

"I'm not thinking about sending him off, but he has to do more - it's as simple as that," Mourinho said.

"We have big expectations at this club, we have lots of players for this position and he has to play better than [Juan] Mata, [Jesse] Lingard and [Anthony] Martial - he has to play better than them and it's as simple as that.

"Every manager in the world wants to win matches, every manager wants to play the players that he thinks can help the team more and I am not different."

Mourinho's decision to leave him out of the squad has irritated many United fans recently, but the attacking midfielder faces a tough task in getting out of a tough situation on the sidelines.