Reports continue to build and suggest that Marcus Rashford may have played his last game of the season after the Aston Villa forward suffered a hamstring injury last week.
The 27-year-old was absent from the Villa matchday squad for our FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace this past weekend, and it was later confirmed by Unai Emery in his post-match press conference that the England international had sustained an injury.
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While the Villa boss conceded that it might be ‘some weeks’ before he was ready to return to action, that ultimately raised concern that Rashford wouldn’t be able to feature again this season, as he’ll miss our last game of the campaign at Manchester United given he’s ineligible to face his parent club, and subsequently he may well have played his last game in a Villa shirt with his deal set to end this summer.
That in turn leaves clashes with Fulham, Bournemouth and Tottenham, and although it’s suggested that the Spurs encounter might be a possibility, the outlook isn’t sounding particularly positive in terms of getting the loanee back in time.
As per David Ornstein, Rashford is expected to miss the rest of the season with the hamstring injury, and although he’s not set for surgery on the issue, he will continue to receive treatment and go through rehabilitation with us before he can return to action.
That will come as a big blow for Emery, as Rashford has made a positive impact since he arrived in January, scoring four goals and providing six assists in 17 appearances for the club.
Having given us a different dynamic and option in the final third, either on the left flank or when leading the line, his threat in front of goal will be missed, but with Villa now fully focused on the Premier League after exiting the Champions League and FA Cup over the past fortnight, it will no doubt be Ollie Watkins who leads our charge in our final four games.
It’s been a tough run for Villa on and off the pitch as it wasn’t so long ago that we were firing on all cylinders and still in the hunt across three fronts, but without the services of Rashford, we have to regroup and ensure we pick up maximum points in these remaining outings to keep our hopes alive of qualifying for the Champions League.