Rashford and Ronaldo absences explained
Manchester United interim manager Ralf Rangnick has explained why Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcus Rashford are not in the squad to face Aston Villa at Villa Park.
It’s the second consecutive clash with the Midlanders that Ronaldo has missed, after the Portuguese sat out the Emirates FA Cup win on Monday with a small muscular problem.
Rashford played the majority of the 1-0 victory at Old Trafford but is not in our 19-man squad tonight.
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Rangnick revealed that Ronaldo had not yet recovered from his issue earlier in the week.
“[He’s out] for the same reason he missed the cup game,” Rangnick told Sky.
“Yesterday before training he still had problems with his hip flexor and we then decided not to train him.
“Then after training I had another conversation with him and we then decided that it doesn't make sense, if he is still having problems with his hip flexor, to take him on the journey here and then hopefully make sure he can play on Wednesday.”
Meanwhile, Rashford has been suffering with a dead leg which resulted in him missing training on Friday, meaning he has not been risked.
“He had, how you call it, a dead leg in training the day before yesterday and it got worse overnight,” Ralf added. “And again he couldn't train yesterday.
“I spoke with him before the training session and we were waiting until the evening to see if the treatment made it any better but it didn't, so again we decided not to take him with us.”