Premier League: Man United stars doubtful for Bournemouth clash

Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is a doubt for the Red Devil’s trip to Bournemouth on Saturday, along with the pair of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof.

Rashford, United’s match-winner in Wednesday’s 2-1 Carabao Cup win at Chelsea with a spectacular 35-yard free-kick, came off late on at Stamford Bridge with a knee injury.

The England striker will be assessed by United’s medical staff today, along with Maguire and Lindelof, before a decision is made on whether they can travel to Bournemouth.

Rashford is in superb form at the moment, with four goals in his last four games for United, taking his tally to eight already for the season – just five short of his best career tally.

“It’s still early,” said Solskajer. “Hopefully we can get them back on the pitch tomorrow, they had some treatment yesterday, a little more treatment today, light session but I can’t exactly tell you.

“Since Anthony [Martial] has come back, Marcus has blossomed.

“He’s probably happier facing goal, being direct, driving at people, taking players on rather than being a target man with his back to goal.

“But Marcus wants to master all the skills, he’s only just turned 22, so maybe playing as a two with Anthony, maybe as a three against Norwich or wide, like we did against Chelsea.

“There are different ways of playing and it was important he stepped up for that penalty against Chelsea.”

Man United are enjoying a revival, with three wins in a row on the road, with Solskjaer claiming the progress he has seen on the training pitch, despite poor results early on, is starting to pay off.

“It’s hard to evaluate after just 10 league games and cup games,” said Solskjaer.

“But we’ve played really well at times, developed a team spirit, an identity, more intensity and aggression in the team and suffered a bit from injuries.

“But that’s football, sometimes you get luck of the dice. The game on Wednesday was decided by an unbelievable strike by Marcus.

“Against Partizan we defended really well, some great last-ditch defending there, and Norwich was a good game.

“The confidence is getting better, getting players back from injury helps. In football, it’s not very far from failure to success or other way round.

“The international break came at a great time for us.

“We prepared for the Liverpool game and when you get a decent performance and result against the league leaders, it gives you a bit more energy.

“Every game is a new opportunity to show what you can do and that’s part of being here.

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“I didn’t play every game. Every game I played was a chance to show the manager I should play the next one and hopefully, these boys feel like that.”