MY ACCOUNT
Erik ten Hag was unsure on Friday if Marcus Rashford would be fit to feature in the EFL Cup final for Manchester United.
Rashford, the form man both for United and among players across Europe, was substituted with two minutes remaining of Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League win over Barcelona.
The England forward had stayed down for a period after tangling with Ronald Araujo and did not move easily when he returned to his feet.
United play Newcastle United at Wembley on Sunday, but Ten Hag will have to wait to see if he will be able to call on Rashford, who has scored 16 goals since the World Cup break.
“I don’t know. The players are now coming in,” Ten Hag said. “We have to check the medicals – of course yesterday we did.
“So straight after the game, you can’t say. We have to wait for 100 per cent diagnosis.”
Ten Hag, who definitively ruled Anthony Martial out of the final, is relishing the opportunity to win his first trophy as United manager.
“It’s a great opportunity to get silverware in,” he said. “It’s about glory and honour in football.
“We deserved to play the final, and now we have a great opportunity to win the cup. We have to put everything in to take that cup to Manchester.”
Indeed, despite leading United to third in the Premier League, the last 16 in the Europa League and FA Cup, and the EFL Cup final, Ten Hag does not yet see this as a successful season.
“I see it so far not as a success. It’s more the road to hopefully success,” he said.
“It’s only success when you win trophies, but on Sunday we have an opportunity to get success.”
