Rashford describes lowest career moment

Our no.10 had surgery in August 2021 to address the long-term problem and returned to action in October that year.

Speaking to former United captain Gary Neville on The Overlap, the England international admitted it was a mentally tough period and he struggled with confidence after the procedure.

“I’d never had any serious injuries before, like where it required surgery or anything like that,” said Rashy.

“It was tough mentally because I knew physically I was better but I didn’t have confidence in it. I felt like I was backing away and, obviously because I play on the left side, I roll a lot inside so I had to use that arm quite often and quite a lot. I just didn’t have the confidence within it.

“It probably took until the winter break, in February I think it was, when we went to Dubai and I felt a bit more confident after that. But it did take like six or seven months for me to feel like myself again.

“When I look back, it’s just like six or seven months wasted. I wish I had spoken to someone before the operation and they would have said: ‘Listen, you’re going to feel this after or you’re going to feel like this, this could happen.'

“But I didn’t really, I just had to get on with it because I didn’t want to miss that much of the season. It actually recovered quite quickly but, just when I started playing, it didn’t feel 100 per cent.”

HELPING OTHERS

Thankfully, the outlook has changed positively for Rashy, who enjoyed the best campaign of his career in 2022/23 after scoring 30 goals for United, helping the Reds win the League Cup, representing his country at the World Cup and winning two personal honours at our end-of-season awards.

At the age of 25, Rashy feels like an experienced player and wants to help youngsters coming through to find the right pathway in their careers.

“I just feel like I’ve experienced the biggest games and I’ve been in the most high-pressure situations,” he told Neville. “I always think to myself: 'How can I help other players like certain players have helped me?'

“I feel like now I’m actually in the right position to genuinely help them and help them in the beginning of their careers and try to set them off in the right direction in the same way people like Wazza [Wayne Rooney], Carras [Michael Carrick] and Juan [Mata] set me off in the right direction.”

When quizzed by Neville on whether he feels part of the leadership pack within the United squad that is missed when they’re not playing, Marcus was keen to reiterate the importance of the entire squad and the sense of unity within the group.

“It’s a blow when you lose any player really in the squad because the squad is the strength - it’s not just the 11 that’s on the pitch,” the forward explained.

“I remember a couple of players got injured [in January earlier this year], it puts everyone down a little bit because Donny [van de Beek] was out for a long time after that and Christian [Eriksen] was out for a little bit.

“When you come in the next day to training and see them on the treatment bed, you know how down they are and it’s disheartening. So it’s not just the players that are playing every week, it’s the squad really. We have to try to keep that. I think Erik [ten Hag] really concentrated on that when he came in, making everyone together as one.

“It’s impossible for everyone to play every game but I think, as a player, you have to accept and support when you’re not playing and when you are playing, you have to give everything and try to do what you can to help the team win the game.”