Marcus Rashford offers Man United hope ahead of Bournemouth clash despite limping off in Liverpool draw… but Erik ten Hag reveals another key player is set to miss out through injury

Manchester United will make a late decision on Marcus Rashford’s fitness before their Premier League clash with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.

Rashford limped out of last weekend’s draw with Liverpool in the second half but trained at Carrington on Thursday and is in contention for the trip to the South Coast.

However, Scott McTominay is likely to miss out with a knee injury, while manager Erik ten Hag will also be without defenders Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia.

‘Rashy trained yesterday so we’ll see how he recovered from it today,’ said Ten Hag at his Friday press conference. ‘We have another training today and then we will make a decision on it.

‘Scott I don’t think so, we have a training session so we have a day. He will push, he is so keen to be a part of it tomorrow, so it’s very questionable.’

There were doubts over the forward’s inclusion after he limped off during his side’s draw with Liverpool last weekend

Erik ten Hag (L), however, revealed the England man has trained this week and a late call will be made on his inclusion

Mo Salah’s late penalty at Old Trafford meant that United had dropped seven points in a week after conceding a injury-time equaliser at Brentford and two more stoppage-time goals in the defeat at Chelsea.

Ten Hag has challenged his players to make sure they get a win over the line this time, adding: ‘Of course it frustrates me and the team as well. The most important part is we get it, to put yourself in a winning position. That was not luck, we did it out of a plan, then you have to bring the win over the line.

‘We should act better in such moments. It’s to do with individual, tactical mistakes, it’s not out of overplay. We have to manage certain situations better.’

United gave one of the their worst performances of the season in the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth at Old Trafford in December, and Ten Hag has warned his players that they will have to meet the physical challenge at the Vitality Stadium in the Saturday dinnertime kick-off.

Midfielder Scott McTominay, however, is likely to miss the game on the South Coast with a knee injury

Ten Hag admitted United weren’t ‘mentally ready’ to face Bournemouth last time out, with his side losing 3-0

‘It was after a very good performance against Chelsea in the week, we were not mentally ready for that game,’ said the United boss. ‘They bettered us and we lost the battles, and tomorrow will not be different.

‘That is the way they want to play, they want to fight with you. You go into that fight, have the conviction and need to support each other to win battles, outplay them and outrun them.’