Solskjaer provides positive update as Man Utd star steps-up injury recovery

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided a positive update on Marcus Rashford as the forward steps-up his recovery from a serious back injury.

Rashford has been on the sidelines since aggravating a troublesome back problem during United’s 1-0 FA Cup third-round replay win over Wolves at Old Trafford on January 15th.

Man Utd were initially hopeful Rashford would only be out for a matter of weeks but it soon became clear the injury was far worse than anticipated and the forward was ruled out for several months.

The 22-year-old has already missed United’s last 10 games in all competitions and won’t be available for the foreseeable future amid fears the attacker won’t play again this season and is facing a race to be fit for this summer’s European Championship finals.

However, Solskjaer has now provided a positive update after confirming Rashford’s latest scans were encouraging and the England international is now working in the gym and swimming pool.

Solskjaer says Rashford is already moving better since stepping-up his recovery at Carrington but the United boss was still reluctant to put any fixed time-scale on his potential return to action.

The Norwegian coach told ManUtd.com:

“The scans were encouraging. He’s now working in the gym and in the pool, and he’s moving around better. He’s in and around the place. It’s like how long is a piece of rope? It’s difficult.”

“As [with] any player, he wants to be fit as quickly as possible and play as soon as possible,” .

“If that means playing in April, if he’ll be fit for us towards the end of the season, fantastic. If it takes longer, it takes longer.

“We just have to be sensible with it because we’re going to have Marcus playing here for many, many years.”

Manchester United will be praying Rashford is able to make a speedy recovery as he was enjoying an excellent campaign before his injury having scored an impressive 19 goals in his 31 appearances in all competitions.

However, Rashford will remain on the sidelines for some time yet and he’ll obviously miss tomorrow night’s trip to Derby County where United will look to book their place in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. See the latest team news ahead of the game here.