Bruno Fernandes insists Marcus Rashford CAN handle the pressure of being a Man United player… after the forward bounced back from ’12-hour tequila bender’ with a goal in his side’s dramatic 4-3 win at Wolves

Bruno Fernandes insists Marcus Rashford can handle the heat of playing for Manchester United after the controversial striker scored in his side’s 4-3 win at Wolves.

The England forward returned to Erik ten Hag’s starting XI at Molineux after taking the blame for what has been described as a ‘12-hour tequila bender‘ that led to him missing training and last Sunday’s win at Newport through illness.

Ten Hag was reluctant to speak at length about Rashford after the victory but United skipper Fernandes backed the 26-year-old to come through this misdemeanour.

‘Marcus has been the same, this is what he is capable of doing,’ said Fernandes. ‘This is what he has to do. This season has not been great for everyone, not only Marcus but we know some players get more scrutiny than others.

‘Everyone has a point to prove, not only Marcus because of the news that came out, or whatever he has done going into the media side. Everyone has to step up in games. It’s not only Marcus, it’s everyone else that is on the pitch.

Bruno Fernandes believes Rashford has shown he can handle the pressure at Man United

Rashford bounced back after going on a reported 12-hour tequila bender in Belfast last week

‘You have to do the job. Marcus scored a great goal, we know his qualities, we know what he can do and what he can give to the team.

‘Marcus knows what it means being a United player more than I do because he’s been here his whole life. I think he is the one that can deal better than that than anyone else.’

Ten Hag was full of praise for young midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, who crowned an outstanding display with the stoppage-time winner, though he was frustrated to see his side pegged back to 3-3 after leading 3-1.

He added: ‘His progress is wonderful to see. I have mixed feelings about the win because we need to hammer certain mistakes out of the team. But then you saw the resilience from the team and it shows the character in the dressing room is right and the spirit is very good.’

Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund put United 2-0 up and following Pablo Sarabia’s penalty, Scott McTominay restored the visitors’ two-goal cushion. That was cancelled out by Max Kilman and Pedro Neto and Wolves looked set for a point before Mainoo’s late strike.

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil said: ‘We look a really good side at times and we just need to keep trying to improve.’

Kobbie Mainoo (left) scored a late winner and was hailed for his performance by Erik ten Hag