Solskjaer hoping to see Rashford back for Man Utd before international break

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is hopeful striker Marcus Rashford will recover from a groin injury before the international break at the start of next month.

The England forward was forced off during the second half of the Red Devils’ Premier League defeat away at West Ham on Saturday.

Immediately after the game Solskjaer confirmed Rashford had picked up a groin strain and would undergo a scan to assess the severity of the injury.

Speaking ahead of United’s Carabao Cup third round tie against League One outfit Rochdale on Wednesday, the Norwegian appeared optimistic that the 21-year-old would be fit to return sooner rather than later.

“He’s recovering. He’s not very, very bad so we hope to see him before the international break,” he told MUTV.

United have three games before the international break after their midweek clash with Rochdale. They take on Arsenal in the Premier League on Monday before travelling to AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League the following Thursday.

They then return to Premier League action against Newcastle on October 6.

The summer departure of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez has already left Solskjaer short of firepower, but the loss of Rashford has further compounded the issue.

Jesse Lingard was forced to play up front at the London Stadium on Saturday with Anthony Martial out with a thigh problem and Mason Greenwood struggling with illness.

Greenwood was fit enough to return to the side against Rochdale, but Solskjaer will be hoping Rashford will soon return to offer the 17-year-old some support.

Solskjaer was able to give a positive assessment of Paul Pogba’s fitness after the Frenchman was cleared to play against Rochdale after three games out with an ankle injury.

“It’s good that he has had a couple of days training and he needs a game to further his recovery,” he said.

“Hopefully then he will be good for Arsenal (on Monday). Let’s see how he does today."

Absent from the Red Devils squad were Andre Gomes and Diogo Dalot, with Solskjaer confirming they are both sidelined through injury.

“They are injured, they haven’t trained the past couple of days unfortunately, hopefully they will be back for Alkmaar next week.”