MARCUS RASHFORD is winning his battle to be fit for Manchester United’s crunch encounter with Newcastle on Sunday.
The in-form Red Devils striker had to pull out of the England squad for their Euros double header against Italy and Ukraine.
He had suffered a knock in the FA Cup win over Fulham.
But 27-goal Rashford returned to light training at the start of the week and has been gradually upping his work in the gym and on the Carrington pitches to be ready for the trip to St.James’ Park.
It is a crucial game as Newcastle could leapfrog Erik ten Hag’s currently third placed side on goal difference if they were to win.
It is tight at the top in the battle for the last two Champions League places behind Arsenal and Manchester City.
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There are six teams within eight points of each other in that race.
Rashford’s availability is key with a heavy reliance on him for the goals.
The next best after his 14 in the league is Bruno Fernandes with five.
Rashford is enjoying career best figures of 27 goals from 44 appearances this season in all.
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Of those 19 have come in 24 games since returning from the World Cup in Qatar where he played in five games for England, starting one.
Eyebrows were raised during the international break when Rashford was pictured enjoying a break in New York after pulling out of the Three Lions squad.
Manager Gareth Southgate defended the player claiming that once he was not fit enough to join the squad it was his decision how he spent his time.
The player himself will have been understandably keen not to exacerbate any slight knock having played with problems to his detriment over the last two seasons.
Meanwhile Scott McTominay is set for only his second Premier League start for Ten Hag since October thanks to his scintillating form for Scotland.
Midfielder McTominay has become the forgotten man at Old Trafford following the signings of Casemiro and improved form of Fred.
Christian Eriksen was also ahead of him until his ankle injury at the end of January.
The 26-year-old started six of the first seven Premier League games this season.
But he has only been named in the first XI for the league once since the 6-3 away defeat to Manchester City in the derby on October 2nd.
That appearance came in the 3-2 defeat at Arsenal on January 22nd although he has made a six starts in the cup competitions.
The combative midfielder has not given up on forcing his way back into the first team.
He will be facing a club this weekend in Newcastle that are interested in signing him if there is any indication he wants to leave Old Trafford due to a lack of game time.
He proved his worth during the international break scoring twice for Scotland in their 3-0 win against Cyprus.
Then he hit both goals in the shock 2-0 win over Spain.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
