Ten Hag will ‘deal with’ Rashford after night out

Marcus Rashford is facing the wrath of Erik ten Hag after the Manchester United manager said he will “deal with” the England forward amid confusion about the timing of night out in Belfast last week.

Rashford was absent from the United squad for the 4-2 win over Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday.

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The 26-year-old reported himself ill on Friday and could not train with the team that day or Saturday.

Despite not being well enough to make the journey to Newport, he was able to train at Carrington on Sunday.

United were made aware of a trip to a nightclub in Belfast that Rashford made on Wednesday, ahead of a scheduled day off on Thursday.

However, subsequent media reports have said he was also out on Thursday night, hours before he was due to report to training in Manchester.

Ahead of the game against Newport, Ten Hag refused to answer a question about whether Rashford had been dropped for the fixture as punishment and afterwards said only that the incident is being treated as “an internal matter.”

“He reported ill,” Ten Hag said. “For the rest it’s an internal matter. I deal with it. As I said, it’s an internal matter.”

It is not the first time Ten Hag has been frustrated with Rashford’s behaviour, saying in November that the striker’s decision to hold a birthday party in Manchester following the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City was “unacceptable”

Rashford was also dropped for a game at Wolves last season after turning up late for a team meeting.

He scored 30 goals last season and was rewarded with a new long-term contract in the summer but he has struggled for form this season, scoring four times in 26 appearances.

After a particularly poor performance in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in December, Rashford was dropped to the bench by Ten Hag for the next two games against Chelsea and Bournemouth.