Erik ten Hag has claimed his Manchester United players do not lack respect for him despite Marcus Rashford missing training on Friday after allegedly partying into the early hours of that morning in Belfast.
Ten Hag dropped the forward for Sunday’s FA Cup win at Newport County and disciplined him. It followed Rashford being seen in Chinawhite, a Manchester club, on the evening of October’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City, a trip the manager described as “unacceptable”. In September Ten Hag was called a liar by Jadon Sancho for saying the forward was left out of the defeat at Arsenal for not training well.
Given these episodes Ten Hag was asked whether his players lacked respect for him. “It’s nothing to do with that but, as I said, let’s focus on the game, let’s move on,” he said. “We have to focus on winning football games.”
Ten Hag was pressed on whether he was imposing the right discipline on his squad. “It’s nothing to do with me but, in football, you need discipline and that is on the pitch but also off the pitch. There is a line between [right and wrong]; every player, every pro, knows this, what is required.”
Ten Hag believes Rashford can recapture the form of last season when he scored 30 times. “Last two Premier League games [he has] two goals, an assist, There is a developing, strong bond between Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Højlund and we want to continue that process.”
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André Onana is available for Thursday’s game at Wolves after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations but Mason Mount remains injured.