There are “no guarantees” on Marcus Rashford’s availability for Manchester United’s trip to Manchester City on Sunday.
That is according to injury expert Ben Dinnery, who was speaking on Thursday’s FPL injuries update, ahead of this weekend’s upcoming Premier League matches.
Rashford has not played for United after suffering a hamstring injury in Erik ten Hag’s side’s 3-1 victory over Premier League leaders Arsenal at the beginning of the month.
The 25-year-old hasn’t trained with the first team over the last three weeks since suffering the initial hamstring injury, meaning an appearance at the Etihad Stadium this weekend seems extremely unlikely.
And Dinnery believes that ten Hag won’t want to take any risks with Rashford for fear of a recurrence of the academy product’s hamstring injury.
“Lots of questions with regards to Manchester United, namely Marcus Rashford,” Dinnery told FPL injuries.
“That was a hamstring problem to keep him out in recent times.
“He did suffer a setback on the training pitches and therefore there are no guarantees with regards to his availability this weekend.
“It’s one that Erik ten Hag won’t want to take any risks with, because we know high recurrence high re-injury rates could potentially put him out for a lot longer.
TIF Thoughts on Dinnery’s comments
We agree with Dinnery and believe that Ten Hag would be taking an unnecessary risk by playing Rashford without the forward being fully fit.
The Dutchman did reveal that Rashford had returned to training ahead of the Manchester derby, though he did not divulge further on his availability for Sunday.
However, his absence would arguably be keenly felt at Old Trafford, with the 46-time England international having scored three goals and provided two assists in just six Premier League appearances for the Red Devils this season, according to Transfermarkt.
But it is due to this fact that it is absolutely critical that the club don’t rush back into action and leave the Manchester-born striker facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.