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England boss Gareth Southgate has confirmed that Marcus Rashford’s lack of playing time during the friendly against Belgium was not because of an injury, in news that will come as a relief to Manchester United fans.
Rashford was peculiarly missing from England’s starting XI, which Southgate subjected to several personnel changes.
The Three Lions boss elected to field an attacking trio of West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen, Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Manchester City’s Phil Foden.
Rashford had to be content with a place on the bench and it was surprising that he didn’t come on even as a substitute.
The Carrington academy graduate has found minutes in the last fortnight very hard to come by.
He was afforded just a 15-minute cameo in the 1-0 defeat to Brazil last week. It was the 34th time Rashford came on from the bench and he is close to tying with Jermain Defoe for the most substitute appearances for the national team. Defoe holds the record with 35.
Before the friendly against Belgium at Wembley, it emerged that the United forward has been playing with a minor injury since February.
It was assumed this was the reason behind Southgate completely snubbing him on Tuesday night, sparking panic within the United fanbase that Rashford could potentially miss a number of games when club football returns this weekend.
However, according to The Three Lions boss, this was not why Rashford was overlooked. The United star was snubbed because Southgate wanted to get a closer look at Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon.
Gordon was introduced into proceedings vs. Belgium in the 80th minute. He replaced Bowen.
After the final whistle, Southgate was asked whether Rashford’s non-involvement was due to an injury. The 53-year-old coach replied, “No, I wanted to see Anthony Gordon again.”
“I thought he had an excellent impact in the first game and I thought that [James] Maddison coming into that area could open things up for us a bit.”
Southgate previously warned Rashford that his Euro 2024 spot is under threat from Gordon, who is having a good season with the Magpies.
However, for United fans, it will come as a huge relief that Rashford did not miss the Belgium game due to injury. He will likely be available to Erik ten Hag for selection when the Red Devils take on Brentford on Saturday.
Rashford has so far had an underwhelming campaign at Old Trafford and will undoubtedly be hoping for better fortunes as the business end of the season goes into full swing.
The Englishman has managed eight goals in 35 appearances across all competitions, a far cry from the red-hot streak he was in last term that saw him plunder a career-high 30 goals in all competitions.
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