Young England squad 'excited' ahead of World Cup, says Marcus Rashford

Sport360 staff 21:14 11/04/2018
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  • Marcus Rashford's place in England's World Cup squad is more or less guaranteed.

    Marcus Rashford has described the England camp as a “massive bundle of excitement” ahead of the World Cup.

    The finals in Russia are coming into sharper focus as club matters conclude, with the Three Lions’ Group G opener against Tunisia in Volgograd now just 68 days away.

    Rashford is all but certain to be in the squad announced by Gareth Southgate in mid-May and the Manchester United forward cannot wait to represent his country in a World Cup for the first time.

    “The England squad’s quite young, so there’s just a massive bundle of excitement buzzing around,” he said.

    “Everyone’s excited to just go there and do as best as we can.

    “(Gareth Southgate has) brought a massive amount of freedom, especially to the forward players, but it’s within a structure.

    “So, we have a baseline and we know what we’re doing.

    “We know what our individual roles are, and we still need to learn and develop that.

    “But yeah, it’s enjoyable playing under him and we just hope for the most success possible, in the World Cup.”

    Rashford claims not to have yet dreamt about reaching the Luzhniki finale, but the forward does have silverware in his mind as United’s season ends.

    The Red Devils have a Wembley semi-final against Tottenham to look forward to next weekend and the 20-year-old is determined to go on to win the competition, as well as sealing second spot in the Premier League.

    “I think our main focus now is finishing second in the league,” Rashford told Inside United. “That’s important for us and winning the FA Cup.

    “If those two things happen, then we’ve took what we can out of the season at this point.
    “They’re the most important things.”

    Success on a collective and individual basis is Rashford’s focus right now.

    Nobody has made more appearances for United since Mourinho’s appointment, but reports suggest the forward is unhappy at the lack of Premier League minutes he has been getting.

    Rashford, who has made 97 appearances as either starter of substitute under the Portuguese, appears to be looking at the bigger picture.

    “I wasn’t aware of (the statistic that I played most for Mourinho) before I saw it and it’s something to be proud of,” he said.

    “But we always want more, and we always want to show progression individually and as a team, so the numbers don’t really matter as much as the results do to me.”

    Provided by PA Sport

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