Rashford to join up with England after injury scare

The United forward’s arrival at the Three Lions’ camp has been delayed, with our no.10 undergoing further assessment on the injury he sustained while playing for the Reds at Everton on Saturday.

Rashford was seen clutching his shoulder late on in our 3-1 win over the Toffees and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed the problem in his post-match interview at Goodison Park.

Gareth Southgate’s men kick off the final international break of 2020 with a friendly against Republic of Ireland at Wembley on Thursday, a game Rashford may not be involved in due to his late arrival to St George’s Park.

Attention then turns to the UEFA Nations League, as England travel to Belgium on Sunday before being set to host Iceland the following Wednesday.

Rashford is part of a 28-man squad, alongside fellow Reds Dean Henderson and Harry Maguire, but former United and England defender Wes Brown believes he should have been allowed to sit out on this occasion, given his fitness concerns.

“He will want to play,” Wes told United Daily on Tuesday. “He’s a leading figure in the team now.

“But when you do pick up little injuries like this with the games we’re having at this time, he has to get it right. England will want him to play and Gareth Southgate will want him to play.

“I’m sure if he joined up, he’s [been] there with the physios four or five days before the game and I’m sure they’ll get him ready to play even though he’s still feeling it a bit.

“It’s probably best if he doesn’t go and gets it all sorted out and that rest, I’m sure, will help Manchester United.”

Former Red and MUTV pundit Ben Thornley echoed the views of Wes, saying that Rashford and Victor Lindelof – who has been selected for Sweden duty despite a back issue – should use the next fortnight to ensure they’re raring to go for United when domestic football resumes.

“We heard Ole’s interview after the game,” added Ben. “Obviously, he touched on the fixture congestion as well and how little time they’d had to prepare.

“Apart from Marcus, there were a couple of others – Luke Shaw went off with an injury, Victor Lindelof was still feeling his back from before that, but got through the game. He was maybe feeling twinges.

“It is important that we do have a full squad to choose from when we get back and to use this time, hopefully in the next 10 days to two weeks, to make sure that any injuries or niggles that people have got are well treated.”

A total of 16 United men have been selected for international duty, with David De Gea, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes among those set to be in action on Wednesday evening.