Man United's Rashford a doubt for League Cup final, says Ten Hag

Since the World Cup break, no player in Europe's top-five leagues has more goals than Rashford, who sustained an injury at United's last game against Barcelona

Reuters
Published : 24 Feb 2023, 03:33 PM
Updated : 24 Feb 2023, 03:33 PM

Marcus Rashford is a doubt for Sunday's League Cup final, Manchester United coach, Erik ten Hag said, with more tests needed to examine the severity of the injury that forced the in-form striker off against Barcelona.

Rashford limped off late in United's 2-1 Europa League playoff second leg win on Thursday, casting doubt over whether he will start against Newcastle United on Sunday, as his team look to win their first trophy since 2017 at Wembley.

No player in Europe's top-five leagues has more goals than Rashford since the World Cup break, with his 24 strikes this term the most he has ever scored in a single campaign in his career.

"I don't know, the players now are coming in, we have to do investigations, medical of course we did straight after the game, but most of the time you have to wait for a 100 percent diagnosis," Ten Hag told a news conference on Friday.

"So let's do the medical, the work, we have to wait."

Thursday's victory kept United competing in four competitions this season as they continue to go from strength to strength under Ten Hag.

The Dutchman still feels United have a long way to go to get back to where the club needs to be.

"It (being in four competitions) is not success but the road to success," he added. "It's only success when you win trophies. On Sunday we have an opportunity to have a success.

"We have a squad we use and when we play four competitions we need a squad, you can't do it with 11 players -- both from the load point of view but also the tactical.

"(Newcastle) is a great team, a clear philosophy about how they want to play the game. They're an annoying team to play against, so we have to find a way to win. They try to annoy you. We have to play our game and focus on our game."

Ten Hag also confirmed French forward Anthony Martial remains out injured and will not take part on Sunday.