MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 28: Ruben Amorim, Head Coach of Manchester United, speaks to Marcus ... [+]
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has confirmed that the club’s striker Marcus Rashford is not close to making a return to his match day squads.
The England international has now been absent from United’s team for 11 consecutive games, including their 1-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
The last time Rashford appeared for United was against the Czech side Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League more than 6 weeks ago on December 12th and he has since said he was ready for a “new challenge” away from Old Trafford.
United would be willing to allow Rashford to leave in the January transfer window, but so far the player has not been able to secure his exit.
"It's the same, it's always the same reason," Amorim replied when asked after the game against Fulham why Rashford continued to be absent from his team.
"The reason is the training, the way I see what footballers should do in training, in life, it's every day, every detail.”
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford during a training session at the Trafford Training Centre, ... [+]
"So if things don't change, I will not change. It's the same situation for every player. If you do the maximum, if you do the right things, we can use every player. And you can see it today on the bench, we miss a little bit of pace to go and change the game, move some pieces.”
"But I prefer it like that. I will put Vital [United’s goalkeeping coach] on before I put a player on that don't give the maximum every day. So I will not change in that department."
Despite United continuing to struggle to score goals, with Joshua Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund having contributed just five between them in the Premier League so far this season, Amorim is determined not to soften his stance on Rashford.
At Fulham on Sunday United had to rely on a defender Lisandro Martinez to score their only goal in a 1-0 win, achieved with a largely unimpressive performance.
LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 26: Lisandro Martinez of Manchester United celebrates scoring his team's ... [+]
“That feeling of winning and three points is really important for us,” said Amorim. “You cannot see a great improvement in the team and that is a fact, but to win helps us to improve.”
"We've had some lack of luck in some games. This was not the best match but we managed to win. The important thing is I have a clear idea of what I want to do. Sometimes I'm frustrated. We want to play a different style and we are going to play a different style in the future."
"It’s really important because clearly you are closer to winning games and it gives you confidence. We didn’t suffer too much today and that is a good sign, not just the clean sheet but it’s the way we were different. Like I said, we need to improve a lot with the ball. Without the ball we were okay, we controlled the game and we scored. Now we move on to the next game."
The January transfer window closes on February 3, and United have so far not brought in any new players. "We have to be cautious,” Amorim said. “You know that we have to follow the rules. I think we’ve made mistakes in the past, we cannot do it now so we are focused on improving the team. Let’s see, let’s focus on the players that we have and focus on the next game."
