Marcus Rashford absence explained as Man Utd star misses Newport County FA Cup tie

Manchester United have confirmed Marcus Rashford will miss Sunday's FA Cup fourth round tie at Newport County at the end of a weekend dominated by the off-field conduct of the Red Devils star.

United manager Erik ten Hag referenced the England forward as he assessed the options available to him ahead of the trip to Rodney Parade in an interview with the club website. He said: “It's a strong side and we have still some injuries like Victor Lindelof (and) Tyrell Malacia. This morning, Marcus Rashford was ill (and) Jonny Evans was ill so we have to see how they recover. But for the rest, we have players returning like (Lisandro) Martinez, like Luke Shaw, like Harry Maguire, like Casemiro which is a good thing.”

The Red Devils have now confirmed Rashford was 'not well enough' to take his place in the squad and has remained at their Carrington training complex to train as he recovers from the illness.

However, the news will fail to quell talk of Rashford's decision to report himself too ill to train on Friday after being pictured in Lavery's Bar in Belfast on Wednesday night and the Thompson's Garage nightclub in the Northern Irish capital at day later. ManchesterWorld understands United were only informed the forward had been out on Wednesday night.

Since the report was initially published by The Athletic, there have been some suggestions Rashford could face disciplinary action after he was criticised by Ten Hag for attending a nightclub hours after United's 3-0 defeat against rivals Manchester City in November.

Speaking at the time, the former Ajax head coach said: “I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. He apologised and that is it. For us it’s an internal matter. 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.”