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Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has opened up ahead of Sunday's Premier League showdown with Newcastle. The Red Devils go into the game hoping to continue their charge towards qualifying for next season's Champions League. And Marcus Rashford looks set to be involved, having trained before the game.
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Rashford recently sustained a knock as United came from behind to beat Fulham 3-1 in a frantic FA Cup showdown before the international break.
And the 25-year-old then decided to pull out of England duty, too, much to the annoyance of Gareth Southgate. Now, speaking ahead of United’s clash with Newcastle on Sunday, Ten Hag has admitted he’s confident he’ll have the attacker at his disposal.
"I've good hope, he trained but he had to dos some treatment, he had to do some individual training, today he joined in with the group,” said the Dutchman. “We have one more day. I have a good hope he will be available."
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United are currently locked in talks with Rashford over a new contract. The forward, who has bagged 27 goals across all competitions this term, has become a talismanic figure for the club ever since Ten Hag’s appointment as manager.
And when quizzed for an update on contract talks with Rashford, he continued: “We never do. It's an internal process. We focus on winning games, of course also planning for the future so in the back we're working on that.
“It's about agents, it's about football director John Murtough, Rashy and I are focusing on performing.”
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Ten Hag then proceeded to elaborate on how he’s helped coax the best from Rashford this term, with the United star previously struggling under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick last season.
"It's not about just a talk, I'm not Harry Potter,” he said.
“It's like a process, so there are many tools you're putting in in your management to let people get to best form, best shape so it's about line-up, way of playing, it's about coaching, talks, informal, it's about coaches working with him and especially it's a lot about himself because he's the one and he has the skills so when he is in the best mentality then.”
While United are happy with Rashford, however, Ten Hag wants other players to step up.
“I think we have players like Bruno, like Jadon Sancho, like Anthony Martial, like Scott McTominay, like Antony dos Santos, we have enough players with the capabilities to score goals, definitely,” he stated.
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“What I said previously, I work in the back on next season but we're working now on this season, so first of all make sure everyone is available and keep improving the way of play and that's the best chance of scoring more goals.”
Rashford is believed to have frustrated England by not turning up for international duty. He instead jetted off to New York, sharing images of himself in the United States on social media.