Aston Villa forward Marcus Rashford reportedly missed our FA Cup semi-final clash with Crystal Palace due to injury.
The 27-year-old has made a positive impact for Unai Emery since arriving on loan from Manchester United in January, contributing four goals and six assists in 17 appearances.
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While the expectation was that Ollie Watkins would get the nod to lead the Villa line for this game, we’d certainly want Rashford on the bench ready to impact the game if needed given his positive form, experience and quality.
Unfortunately for us though, he was absent from the matchday squad confirmed by the club, and the Express and Star’s Matt Maher has since reported that Rashford is out with a ‘knock’.
It’s a shame for the England international too as he would undoubtedly have been itching to be involved in these big games, not only to help us achieve success this season, but to further reiterate his return to form and his ability to make a decisive impact on the big occasion.
For Emery though, he still has quality options at his disposal with Watkins starting up top, and he’ll be supported by John McGinn, Marco Asensio and Morgan Rogers in the attacking third.
Further, Villa can call upon the likes of Donyell Malen, Jacob Ramsey, Leon Bailey and Ross Barkley if needed to give us something different in attacking areas, but naturally it’s hoped that they won’t be needed as we look to book our spot in the FA Cup final next month.
As for Rashford though, the hope is that his injury isn’t serious and won’t sideline him beyond this weekend, as although our complete focus is on Palace and the FA Cup, we’ve got four crunch Premier League games remaining as we continue to pursue Champions League qualification.
In turn, with every game must-win at this stage of the campaign, we’ll certainly be in a stronger position to compete if Rashford is available for selection when we take on Fulham next weekend.
