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Erik ten Hag delivers Marcus Rashford injury update ahead of Carabao Cup final.
Erik ten Hag is unsure whether Marcus Rashford will be able to play in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United.
The 25-year-old suffered an ankle injury in United’s 2-1 Europa League quarterfinal play-off round win against Barcelona and was substituted before the final whistle.
Rashford uploaded a troubling Instagram post late on Thursday, with a photo of him going off the pitch with his boot off and an injured emoji, but there’s still optimism that he’ll be ready to play against the Magpies at Wembley.
However, Ten Hag, speaking to the assembled media before setting off for the capital, admitted he’s unsure at present if Rashford will be available.
“I don’t know,” the Dutchman said. “Players are now coming in, we have to do investigations, medical, of course, yesterday we did. So straight after a game most of the time you can’t say, you have to wait for a 100 per cent diagnosis. So let’s do the medical, the work, we have to wait.”
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Rashford has a career-high 24 goals in all competitions this season, elevating his game after returning from the World Cup in Qatar.
He didn’t score against Barcelona, but goals from Fred and Antony enabled United come back from a goal down to win 4-3 on aggregate, setting up a round-of-16 tie with another La Liga side, Real Betis.
Speaking about the upcoming final against Newcastle, Ten Hag added: “It’s great. As you have seen, we take every game seriously, we take every competition seriously, so we’ve now progressed to a final and it’s great to play a final. But if you play you want to win.
“It was a good feeling [against Barcelona], that unified feeling, really together. It was good. So a great opponent, because it’s one of the best teams in Europe, Barcelona, a typical way of playing, and if you can beat them it’s great.
“Sunday is a challenge again but totally different. It’s also great to play them, to find a way to play against different styles, different systems. Every time you want to beat them, every time you want to find a good strategy and plan to beat opponents.”