Marcus Rashford has highlighted the positive effect that Manchester United fans can have on the players, ahead of the team's fifth match in a demanding December schedule - Liverpool away this weekend.
Statistics show that Rashford's energy levels during games have been off the chart. For example, in the recent 2-2 draw with Arsenal, he made 31 sprints - the highest tally achieved by any United player in one match this season. Indeed, Opta have revealed to us that only one player in the entire Premier League has bettered that figure this term - his England team-mate Raheem Sterling, with 32 sprints for Manchester City against Cardiff City.
While his dynamic December displays have been impressive - he's also registered two goals and four assists so far this month - Marcus is keen to share the credit and he cites the assistance from United's supporters.
“I think they [the fans] are the ones who give you the energy to do it because, at times, you’re dead,”
Rashford told us.
“When you can hear them pushing you on, it gives you that extra burst to go again and I think that’s something that is tough to explain because the adrenaline overtakes what’s going on and you find that extra burst of energy.
”The fans have to know that if we’re tired, especially late on in the game, it becomes 10 times more difficult for us if they're not singing or chanting. But they have been doing that so it makes our job easier.”
Rashford has netted United's last two goals, an 87th-minute header in the midweek Champions League defeat to Valencia and before that, a stunning strike to round off the Reds' Premier League win over Fulham.
“We have to try to keep up the intensity that we’ve shown in the last couple of [Premier League] games and keep improving,”
he told MUTV, referring to the 4-1 beating of the Cottagers and the battle with Arsenal.
“It’s always a good feeling to see the ball hit the back of the net but, in the last game, I was happy anyway. I was happy with the performance in the first half. I think, at the beginning of the second half, it dropped a little bit, which is natural when we’ve had a run of tough games, but we managed to lift it again which was important for us.
I just want to see the team improving, and for us to improve ourselves as individuals, so we can become more consistent. That’s what we’ve been lacking and that’s why we’re not higher up in the table. The Christmas period is always busy so consistency is the main thing. The look of the season can change in just this one month, so we need to pick the points up and keep improving.“
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MUTV will show the full interview with Marcus Rashford during Match Day Live on Sunday. The pre-match programme begins at 14:55 GMT.
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