10 April 2023 , 12:27
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Manchester United are fearful over the extent of Marcus Rashford's groin injury that cast a shadow over Saturday's 2-0 win over Everton.
Rashford hobbled off with the problem late on at Old Trafford, sparking fears that the club's top scorer could be set for a spell on the sidelines at a crucial juncture in the season.
The England international was making his 350th appearance for United and assisted Anthony Martial for the decisive second goal that ensured an uplifting three points for Erik ten Hag's side. But he pulled up minutes later after stretching to reach a Christian Eriksen pass, and was replaced immediately, limping down the tunnel in clear discomfort.
United are now sweating on the fitness of their talismanic forward and are hoping for positive news as they await results of a scan on Monday.
It is likely that Rashford will miss Thursday's Europa League meeting with Sevilla, but The Sun claims that club chiefs fear the side's leading goalscorer 'could be out for a number of weeks.'
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The severity of Rashford's groin problem is not yet clear, but manager Ten Hag admitted the injury "doesn't look well" when asked about his fitness after Saturday's match. Ten Hag said: "I can't say in this moment, I'm not a doctor. We have to wait how bad or how good it is. Obviously he went off and we have to wait for the diagnosis and we will see."
Ten Hag pointed to problematic scheduling as a cause of Rashford's injury (Getty Images)The United boss has been accused by some of overplaying Rashford during a demanding period of fixtures, but he was more concerned about the apparent problematic scheduling that could have caused the injury.
United were defeated in last Sunday's late kick-off by Newcastle and had a short recovery period between Wednesday evening's victory over Brentford and the convincing triumph over Everton.
"This was avoidable. All science and research tell you players need a certain time to recover," Ten Hag said. "It is also part of the schedule that we are now finding ourselves in this situation and now we can only pray he (Rashford) is not dropping off.
He added: "I know that is why this is the toughest league and in all the leagues and competitions we were in then you need a squad to rotate to a certain point, but this was avoidable, it was not necessary to set the schedule like we have now."