Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is unsure if Marcus Rashford will be available to start the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle.
The Red Devils came back from behind to beat Barcelona 2-1 at Old Trafford on Thursday, securing a place in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
But a night of pure elation was tinged by the sight of Rashford limping towards the dugout nursing an ankle injury, after being substituted in the 88th minute.
The 25-year-old has been imperative to Ten Hag this term, scoring 16 goals in his last 18 matches.
However, the United boss could be without his talisman for the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Ten Hag unsure of Rashford’s fitness
The England international will be assessed in the lead up to the match to determine if he is fit to play.
When asked if Rashford would recover in time for the contest, Ten Hag replied: “I don’t know. Players are now coming in, we have to do investigations, medical, of course, yesterday we did.
“So straight after a game most of the time you can’t say, you have to wait for a 100 per cent diagnosis. So let’s do the medical, the work, we have to wait.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Martial, who hasn’t started a match since January 14, is still sidelined with a hip injury.
United are the only team in Europe competing on all four fronts this season, with fans fantasising over a possible quadruple.
Newcastle have their own concerns with first choice goalkeeper Nick Pope suspended after he was shown a red card for bizarrely handling the ball some 40 metres from his own goal against Liverpool.
Martin Dubravka is also unavailable to play due to featuring in the competition for Manchester United earlier in the season whilst he was on loan.
Consequently, Eddie Howe is likely to turn to Loris Karius between the sticks, almost five years since his Champions League final horror show for Liverpool.
Leave a Reply