"Needs to be more ruthless" - Wayne Rooney sends message to Manchester United star after his performance in Nottingham Forest win

Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney has offered Marcus Rashford advice on how to improve his attacking output amid a poor run of form this season.

The England international has scored just five goals in 32 games across competitions so far this term. In contrast, he ended last season as the club's top goalscorer, registering 30 goals and 11 assists in 56 appearances across competitions for Manchester United.

The forward put in a lackluster display in United's 1-0 FA Cup win over Nottingham Forest yesterday (February 28), playing up front in the place of the injured Rasmus Hojlund. Rashford failed to create much in attack, registering an xG of 0.22 as Casemiro scored the match-winner in the 89th minute.

Rooney has urged the English winger to have more patience and confidence in front of goal. The iconic former United striker told the BBC after the game (as quoted by GOAL):

"Marcus Rashford needs to be more ruthless and be patient and stay in the middle of the goal. You just want to see more from him. Confidence is the main factor, he hasn't been scoring regularly this season and he maybe needs to simplify his game to get back in the groove."

He added:

"He's not the most vocal lad. His body language doesn't look great at times but he's not like that. The senior players need to get more out of him and get him fired up."

Manchester United's next fixture in the FA Cup will be in the quarter-finals against Liverpool at Old Trafford on March 16.

Erik ten Hag slams Nottingham Forest for 'targetting' Manchester United star in FA Cup tie

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has lambasted Nottingham Forest's players for going after Bruno Fernandes with malicious intent in their FA Cup clash. The Dutch manager insists that Fernandes was fouled multiple times during the game.

In his post-match press conference, Ten Hag said (as quoted by the BBC):

"You saw that Forest were targeting him. There were many fouls on him and you see when he is getting the ball, they are really tight on him."

Fernandes received a lot of criticism on social media after he went down on what seemed to be a rather light challenge in Manchester United's 2-1 win over Fulham at the weekend.

Responding to the club captain's critics, Ten Hag revealed that the Portuguese midfielder was in fact injured and played through the Forest clash in pain. He added:

"I see social media criticizing him. It is pathetic. He had a serious injury but he continued to play on Saturday and then also he fought to be part of this game."

United will next be in action against their cross-town rivals Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (March 3).