Erik ten Hag says Marcus Rashford may not be fit and available for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United at Wembley.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference ahead of the final, the boss confirmed that Rashford will need to be evaluated ahead of the game.
“I don’t know, the players now are coming in, we have to do investigations, medical of course, we did straight after the game, but most of the time you have to wait for a 100 per cent diagnosis. So let’s do the medical, the work, we have to wait.”
Speaking about Sunday’s opponent, Ten Hag described Newcastle United as “annoying”, saying:
“Annoying. They try to annoy you. If you see from the FA, referees want to play effective time. They have the lowest in the league, they are quite successful with it. It’s up to us to get speed in the game, but we are dependent on the refereeing as well.”
Asked about Newcastle being without two goalkeepers, he said:
“I am not in the instructions of the opponents so I don’t know, I can’t influence that. We have to focus on playing football when the ball is in the game and fully concentrate on that. Don’t get distracted from whatever is on the pitch, we have to find our way.”
The boss also confirmed the importance of Sunday’s game.
“It’s a great opportunity to get the silverware in, football is all about glory and honour,” he said.
“We deserve to play in the final and we have a great chance to win the cup. The fans are really waiting for it, so we’ll do everything we can to give the fans their honour.”
“I see it not yet a success. It’s just the road to success. But on Sunday, we have a chance of success,” he said.
The bad news for United was that Ten Hag confirmed Anthony Martial has not recovered sufficiently to be involved on Sunday.
However, the fact the Frenchman is back in training is good news going forward.