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Marcus Rashford missed Manchester United’s narrow victory over Newport County in the FA Cup due to illness, but Erik ten Hag has indicated an “internal matter” will be addressed upon his return.
Marcus Rashford returned to Manchester United’s training ground on Monday for talks with Erik ten Hag following his controversial absence following a trip to Belfast.
The striker missed the Red Devils’ FA Cup victory over Newport County due to an “illness”. Rashford also missed the build-up to the match after calling in sick on Friday after it emerged he had been in a nightclub in Belfast just hours earlier.
Rashford was seen driving to United’s training complex in Carrington on Monday morning while his brother Dwaine Maynard, who is also a registered agent, arrived in a separate vehicle. United manager Ten Hag came under pressure over Rashford’s absence following the 4-2 win over Newport and acknowledged there was an “internal matter” he needed to resolve with the striker.
“He called in sick. The rest is an internal matter. I’ll deal with it, we’ll deal with it,” Ten Hag said, before being asked if the matter raised more questions than answers. The former Ajax boss replied: “For you, but not for me. It’s a matter internal and I will take care of it.”
Ten Hag was then asked if Rashford’s absence was evidence of the “not good” culture he entered when he took the job at Manchester United. He said: “I’m not going there on this case. I’ve talked about that before. I think we played a good game and now we move forward. “We’ll take care of it, I’ll take care of it.”
Before turning up sick for training, Rashford was photographed in a nightclub in Northern Ireland. Social media images appeared to show the 26-year-old entering Thompsons Garage nightclub in Belfast.
United were aware of Rashford’s trip on Wednesday and Thursday was a scheduled day off for the first team. However, reports suggest Rashford was at the club on Thursday night and flew back on a private jet in the early hours of Friday.
Rashford landed in hot water earlier this season after being photographed in a nightclub following United’s derby defeat to Manchester City. On that occasion, Ten Hag gave the forward a public reprimand.
In November, the 53-year-old said: “I spoke to him about this. It is unacceptable. He apologized and that’s it. For us it is an internal matter.
“He’s very motivated to fix things. He’s totally with us. He’s made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”
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