Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has admitted he is “not happy” with Marcus Rashford’s form but he remains convinced the England forward will get back to his best this season.
Rashford’s disputed red card in Copenhagen on Wednesday night contributed to a dramatic United collapse as they blew a 2-0 lead and conceded two goals in the final 10 minutes to lose 4-3, dropping to the bottom of Group A in the Champions League with two games left.
Gareth Southgate kept faith with Rashford by naming him in his England squad on Thursday, but a player who scored 30 goals for United in all competitions last season has only one from 15 appearances this term.
“I think he’s not happy, we are not happy,” Ten Hag said of Rashford’s performances. “We have an expectation. He has high expectations from himself. In this moment he is not in the best form but I know he will be back.
“I know when the team is playing better he will play better. He will go and score goals. I am confident of that. This season he will improve and score goals. He is totally in the team, he is aware of everything so I think he will be back on track.
“It can happen very quickly and sometimes you only need one game. I’m sure he will get there.”
The defeat in Copenhagen was United’s ninth from 17 games in all competitions so far, and they go into Saturday’s match at home to Luton eighth in the Premier League.
Asked if results had been acceptable this term, Ten Hag said: “It is about the end result and we have to win every game, so we are very disappointed to lose any game but finally it is about the end result.
“It is always about being in a process, thinking about a process and then it’s about managing the process. That’s the only thing I focus on.
“I think we have often proved we can, like at Fulham, like Brentford, that we can overcome big setbacks.”
United’s midweek defeat came at a cost too as Jonny Evans limped off early after pulling up off the ball.
The 35-year-old, who has been a regular starter in recent weeks, has been ruled out of the Luton match and may now also miss next week’s Euro 2024 qualifiers for Northern Ireland in what would be another blow for Michael O’Neill’s injury-hit squad.
“So we don’t have in this moment the full assessment and all the details but tomorrow he is out,” Ten Hag said.
“I can’t say (if he can go away with Northern Ireland) as we don’t have the finished assessment.”
Mason Mount has been another player in the spotlight, with the 24-year-old struggling to make an impression since his £55million summer switch from Chelsea.
Mount made his first start since early October in the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle on November 1 but was back on the bench against Fulham and Copenhagen, with questions being asked about his role in the side.
However, Ten Hag said there had been no change in his expectations of the player.
“It hasn’t changed at all,” Ten Hag said. “He started the season and then he got injured. It’s the worst moment for a new player to get injured because it stops the integration process. That was definitely a setback for us all and for him now he has to fight to get his place back.”
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