Gareth Southgate gives his take on Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford's absence from England squad

Manchester United star Marcus Rashford has withdrawn from the England squad ahead of their games against Italy and Ukraine, and manager Gareth Southgate has had his say on the matter.

The in-form Manchester United striker has now missed five of his country's last six internationals which weren't a part of major tournaments. Additionally, Rashford was seen posting images on social media from New York City during this break. His decision to drop out once again, this time ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers, has raised eyebrows in England.

Speaking on the Manchester United attacker's decision to travel to the United States, England boss Southgate expressed (via Mirror):

"Once Marcus is ruled out of the squad, it’s entirely up to him how he spends his time. The players don’t get a lot of breaks and I’m sure some of them will be flying off after tomorrow’s game if they get 48 hours off with the schedule as it is."

The 52-year-old added:

"We are always linking with clubs on scans and assessments. There is also how every individual player feels, so there is a lot involved. I am always working with the players on what the best solution is for them."

“Of course, we always want the players and we always want to work with them as often as we can. In every squad we have, we always lose a couple. My focus then has to be on the group that are here, and how do we win the games?"

England will play their next Euro Qualifiers match against Ukraine on Sunday (March 26) at Wembley Stadium.

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Southgate hopes Manchester United's Rashford continues rich vein of form

The 51-time England international has been in red-hot form this season, scoring 27 goals and setting up a further eight goals in 44 appearances.

Despite not featuring much for England in recent times barring his stellar displays at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Southgate continues to retain his trust in the forward.

The English coach continued:

"Marcus [Rashford] is in good form and we’d love to have had him as an option for this camp - but we haven’t got him. We always make a judgement on how people are playing and he’s obviously played a lot for us."

Southgate added:

"Marcus [Rashford] has over 50 caps now for England and close to 50 of those have been since I’ve been the manager. So I’ve known him a long time. I know what he’s capable of. It’s good to see him in the goalscoring form he’s in."

"There’s been a period in the last couple of years where he’s not been as hot as that and that’s been frustrating for everybody to see but he is in good form and we hope that can continue."

The 25-year-old is set to return to action for Manchester United's upcoming trip to St. James' Park to face Newcastle United on April 2 in a Premier League away clash.

Meanwhile, the Three Lions prepare to host Ukraine after their 2-1 win over Italy in Naples. The latter fixture saw Manchester United's Luke Shaw receive a red card, ruling him out for England's encounter with Ukraine.