Marcus Rashford.

Ole reveals extent of Rashford injury

Thursday 21 October 2021 07:00

Marcus Rashford is fighting to be fit for Manchester United’s heavyweight Premier League clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford after being forced off with an injury against Atalanta.

The striker was making his first appearance in a United starting XI, against the Italians in Group F, since he was in the line-up for the Europa League final against Villarreal last May.

Our No 10, who’ll celebrate his 24th birthday on Halloween, gave United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a scare when he suffered a dead leg at Old Trafford, and had to be replaced in the 66th minute by Edinson Cavani.

Rashford had set United’s amazing second half-comeback in motion when he scored with a calm finish, 13 minutes earlier.

Marcus Rashford had to be substituted after picking up a dead leg against Atalanta.

It added to his goal against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium last Saturday, but now he’s battling to face Liverpool at the weekend.

Asked whether the striker will be ready for the big clash, Ole admitted: “I don’t know. I hope so and I think so.

“It was a dead leg and sometimes it can take longer than what you want. But if we treat it well, he should be okay.”

Following his start against Villarreal in the final in Gdansk, Rashford went on European Championship duty with England in the summer before undergoing shoulder surgery in August to cure a persistent problem.

The boss says Rashford has used his time recovering on the training field on his own to good effect, and the early signs are that he is back to his brilliant best.

“He has worked really hard. His injury, or the surgery, meant he couldn’t train with contact but he has been training physically and now he is physically very robust,” said Ole.

“Now it his about getting football form back. And it is coming.

“Marcus is a natural talent but he also wants to work on his game and he has already worked a lot individually without contact allowed. It showed [against Atalanta] because he was really composed and took his goal really well.”

Rashford has a great record against Liverpool, having scored five times against the Merseysiders. The only club he has netted more against is Leicester (six).

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