Marcus Rashford has not been included in Manchester United’s squad for their FA Cup fourth-round clash at Newport County.
United have said that Rashford is not available through illness and that he has remained at their Carrington training facilities to continue his recovery.
It follows The Athletic’s exclusive report that the 26-year-old went out in Belfast the night before reporting himself as too ill to attend United training on Friday.
United were informed that the England international was out in the Northern Ireland capital on Wednesday night but The Athletic has seen confirmation that the player also attended a nightclub the following evening, hours before being scheduled to report for a club training session.
Rashford attended Thompsons Garage nightclub in the Northern Ireland capital on Thursday night, returning to Manchester on a private flight the following morning.
Both Manchester United and Rashford’s camp declined to comment when contacted by The Athletic.
Erik ten Hag had told reporters on Friday that Rashford was unable to train ahead of United’s fourth-round trip to the League Two club.
Rashford had training with United between Monday and Wednesday before travelling to Northern Ireland as his friend and former United youth-team player Ro-Shaun Williams joined Larne.
In November, the United boss described Rashford attending a nightclub after his side’s 3-0 defeat in the Manchester derby as “unacceptable”.
“I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. He apologised and that is it. For us it’s an internal matter,” Ten Hag said.
“He’s very motivated to put things right. He’s totally with us.
“He has made a mistake but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”
Rashford has scored just four goals across all competitions this season, but did find the net in each of United’s most recent two Premier League matches — against Nottingham Forest and Tottenham respectively.
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