Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has withdrawn from the England squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Hungary to focus on his fitness.
Rashford made his return to action last month after recovering from summer shoulder surgery and scored three times for United in his first four appearances back.
The 24-year-old was named in an England squad for the first time since Euro 2020 as a result, but illness prevented him from training at the end of last week. That limited Rashford to just 23 minutes as a substitute in the Manchester derby on Saturday, which United lost 2-0.
Rashford was considered a doubt even to make the squad for the match against Manchester City, having felt unwell on the journey home from the midweek Champions League trip to Italy.
A club statement confirmed that Rashford has made the decision to withdraw from the England squad in order to focus on his fitness and health.
“Marcus Rashford will remain with Manchester United in order to concentrate on regaining full fitness as England face their final two World Cup qualifiers,” the club explained.
“He remains short of full fitness as he has been building up his game-time for United and has still to complete a full 90 minutes since the enforced lay-off.”
United defender Luke Shaw is a doubt to link up with the England squad because of a suspected concussion suffered in the defeat to City, although he has not yet been definitively ruled out.
Shaw was forced off with a head injury in the game and is currently being monitored by United medical staff in accordance with FA protocols. England staff are being kept updated.
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Source : 90min