Marcus Rashford has been ruled out of the first leg of Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla with a muscle injury, the club said Wednesday. (More Football News)
Rashford was hurt late on in United's 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday.
Marcus Rashford has been ruled out of the first leg of Manchester United's Europa League quarter-final against Sevilla with a muscle injury, the club said Wednesday. (More Football News)
The England international, who has scored a career-best 28 goals this season, will be sidelined for a "few games" which places doubts over his availability for the FA Cup semifinal against Brighton on April 23.
Rashford was hurt late on in United's 2-0 win against Everton on Saturday.
"Subsequent assessment of the injury suggested that Marcus will be unavailable for a few games, but is expected to be back for the season run-in," United said.
Rashford's absence means Erik ten Hag will be without his leading scorer for the upcoming games, starting with Sevilla at Old Trafford on Thursday.
The United manager would not confirm precisely how long the forward was expected to be out.
"I can't give more details because we don't know. We have to see how the injury develops," Ten Hag said Wednesday.
"Of course, it is a setback and he is disappointed, but he is not totally broke because he knows he will return quickly, so he's optimistic and he has started straight on his recovery and rehab."
Rashford has been in outstanding form this season and helped fill the gap left by Cristiano Ronaldo's departure in November.
He has scored 20 goals in 28 games since returning from the World Cup.
Bruno Fernandes is United's second-highest scorer this season with 10, meaning Ten Hag will have to hope other players can fill in while Rashford recovers.
One of those is Anthony Martial, who returned from a two-month absence at the start of April and scored his seventh goal of the season in the win against Everton.
"The stats are telling you that the moment he (Martial) is on the pitch, then the time he needs for a goal is really less (than others)," Ten Hag said.
"When he is in the team, I refer to games against Man City, against Liverpool when he's in the team, we play our best football and have our best results as a team."
Sevilla has become a specialist in the Europa League, winning the competition six times between 2006-20.
"They won the Europa League most of all clubs in Europe, so that is a magnificent record so we have to be aware of it because that is their target," Ten Hag said.
"We are sure 100 percent motivated to go again. If we want to beat them, we have to play our best football and everyone has to deliver their best performance."