Erik ten Hag believes Marcus Rashford can use being left out of the England squad for this summer’s European Championship as motivation ahead of Manchester United’s FA Cup final on Saturday.
Rashford failed to make the cut in Gareth Southgate’s 33-man provisional squad after a disappointing season at Old Trafford that saw him score seven goals.
But Ten Hag has backed the 26-year-old to get over the disappointment and wants him to use it to his side’s advantage against Manchester City at Wembley.
“He looks good and that is the career, ups and downs, so a down can also be fuel, that is what I see in training,” Ten Hag said.
“He will be highly motivated, he is highly talented. He has already a big career. I am sure he will get over this and get even more goals.”
Ten Hag also revealed that Harry Maguire has not recovered from his muscle injury in time to play in the FA Cup final.
Maguire has not featured for United since April 27, but Ten Hag noted Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane are both fit for Saturday, as is Mason Mount.
Ahead of the final, which is a repeat of last season’s showcase, Ten Hag made clear that winning the FA Cup would be a sign of what he was was brought in to do.
“I came here to win trophies,” Ten Hag added. “Saturday is the next opportunity and we achieved this and earned it as a team and now we have to go for it.
“At the same time in the last two years, every season we review and we will see where we are in the project and what we have to change.
“(There are) very good things, players coming up and developing and at the same time we have on Saturday a big opportunity to win the next trophy.”
GO DEEPER
Marcus Rashford – what happened?
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