Marcus Rashford has been starring for Manchester United, but Alan Shearer says an injury-enforced absence has left the 21-year-old facing a fight to win back his place in the England team.
Having enjoyed a productive run for the Red Devils as a central striker under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, much was expected of an exciting frontman heading into the start of Euro 2020 qualification.
Rashford was, however, to see a niggling ankle problem force him to withdraw from Gareth Southgate’s squad.
As he was left to watch on from afar, Raheem Sterling netted a hat-trick in a 5-0 demolition of the Czech Republic which also saw Jadon Sancho impress on his first start for the Three Lions.
Callum Hudson-Odoi was another to catch the eye when stepping off the bench, while Harry Kane added another effort to his prolific goal haul from the penalty spot.
England now boast an abundance of riches in the attacking department and that could leave those on the fringes of the fold with a tough task reclaiming a starting berth.
Former Three Lions striker Shearer said in The Sun: “We didn’t even mention the name of one of the best young strikers around because we were enjoying Friday night’s goal-fest at Wembley so much.
“But Marcus Rashford was back at Manchester United watching his pals run rings around Czech Republic and smashing five goals past them.
“He will already know he’s got to go again to force his way into the team.
“Gareth and his assistant Steve Holland are in the very nice situation of not missing big players when they are injured.
Getty Images“I can’t remember the last time we talked like that.
“Jesse Lingard and John Stones were also out from midfield and defence respectively. Both were stars in Russia.
“We’ve now got four or five potential starters who weren’t even involved at the World Cup — Ben Chilwell, Callum Hudson-Odoi, the mightily impressive Jadon Sancho and Declan Rice, who came off the bench against the Czechs.
“It’s just very, very positive and I don’t blame people for getting carried away.
“But, look, it’s going to be very tough for us to win the Euros in 2020.
“Two of the other semi-finalists in the World Cup were Belgium and France so there’s plenty to beat. Plus the likes of Portugal and a new-look Germany.”
England’s next opportunity to put down a marker arrives on Monday when Southgate’s side travel to Montenegro seeking to take another positive step towards next summer’s European Championship.
They also have the Nations League finals to take in this summer, with a semi-final showdown with the Netherlands set to be staged on June 6.