‘Unacceptable’ - Erik ten Hag slams Marcus Rashford after Man Utd star attends unsanctioned party

Erik ten Hag has criticised the behaviour of Marcus Rashford and branded the Manchester United star’s decision to attend a party last week as ‘unacceptable’.

The 26-year-old attended Chinawhite, a nightclub in Manchester city centre, just hours after his side had been beaten 3-0 by Manchester City last Sunday. A report in the Telegraph claimed Rashford was at the pre-arranged event to celebrate his birthday and stayed out past midnight, but still reported on time for training the next morning.

However, Erik ten Hag revealed on Friday that he had been unaware of the party and said Rashford apologised for his actions.

“Yes I am aware of it, I spoke with him about it,” the Dutchman explained ahead of United’s Premier League trip to Fulham this weekend. “It's unacceptable. I told him, he apologised and that is it. For us, it's an internal matter.”

This is Rashford’s second misdemeanour under Ten Hag, and the England international was dropped for last season’s game against Wolverhampton Wanderers after he overslept and was late for a team meeting. Despite that, the United boss insisted Rashford is ‘totally with’ the team and rejected any suggestion that the player is not pulling in the same direction as the rest of the squad.

“He's fitting in, he's very motivated to put things right. I know how much effort he is putting in. He's totally with us,” said Ten Hag.

“So he makes 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. So he makes one mistake but also, off the pitch, what he is doing, how he lives, and I'm sure he is doing everything right to help the team and to perform and to let us win.”

Ten Hag added that Rashford is available to play against Fulham on Saturday and said the decision to start him on the bench in the midweek Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle United had nothing to do with last Sunday’s party.

Rashford’s transgression is the latest in a series of disciplinary issues that Ten Hag has dealt with in less than 18 months in charge at Old Trafford. But the Dutchman was adamant on Friday that he trusts his players.

“So yeah, I have to take the responsibility and yes, share responsibility and, yeah, I trust the players. I have seen many moments in those years and months I have been here and lately that they fight, there is the spirit, for instance, the return against Brentford.”

Ten Hag - the fifth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement - was also asked in Friday’s press conference whether he feels the structure in place at United is not designed for long-term, on-field success. “It's possible,” the ex-Ajax boss replied. “I'm convinced, sometimes you have difficult periods but when you stick together - and we are together – then you come through those difficult periods.”

“I wouldn’t work here if I thought it [the club’s structure] wasn’t right,” Ten Hag added.