Will Marcus Rashford play for Manchester United against Wolves?

Marcus Rashford has been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons lately. The English forward reported ill on Friday after being spotted in a Belfast nightclub on Thursday and subsequently missed Manchester United’s FA Cup tie with Newport County on Sunday.

Rashford travelled to Northern Ireland on Wednesday to visit former United team-mate Ro-Shaun Williams, who recently signed for Larne. A United statement released on Monday night said: “Marcus has taken responsibility for his actions. This has been dealt with as an internal disciplinary matter, which is now closed.”

Problems with Rashford

It’s not the first time head coach Erik ten Hag has had an issue with the 26-year-old. The Old Trafford club take on Wolves in the Premier League today (Thursday) and in the same fixture last season, Rashford started on the bench having been late for a team meeting.

Ten Hag ended up bringing Rashford on at half-time and he snatched victory with a late goal at Molineux. “I wasn’t even that late - he wasn’t being harsh - late is late, but it was probably about 45 seconds, a minute late,” Rashford later told Gary Neville on The Overlap.

He added: “I already knew what was going to happen because of the rules he implemented in pre-season. Rules are rules and we’ve got a game to win.”

Ten Hag on Rashford

Rashford was disciplined after missing training on Friday and Ten Hag dropped him at Newport on Sunday. The former Ajax boss was asked pre-match whether he worried about how it may be interpreted if Rashford were in the starting eleven against Wolves.

“I didn’t pick him on Sunday,” Ten Hag said. “We draw the line from that point on. We move on. The players at this level need to manage themselves – that is what you can demand from the player. The player has to know what is good and not good. When you want to play top football, it demands a certain way of life. Always.”

Rashford is available for selection for the Wolves game and it remains to be seen if Ten Hag starts him on the bench or even in the starting eleven when United take on Gary O’Neil’s team in the Midlands. Either way, Rashford has been warned by the club, who continue to struggle in front of goal this season, and need their forwards to start firing.