England boss Gareth Southgate has said that it is his job to "protect" Marcus Rashford at this stage of his professional career.
Rashford was eligible to feature for England Under-21s during the European Championship, but with the 19-year-old having already made eight appearances for the senior squad, Southgate opted to include him in his group for games with Scotland and France.
The attacker played 55 times for Manchester United this season, and Southgate has indicated that it would have been the wrong decision to extend his campaign until the end of June.
The 46-year-old told the Football Association's official website: "It would be inconceivable not to put him in the senior squad. He is in the squad on merit and has been for a year.
"The question then is: could he have gone with the Under-21s after that? In my opinion, no. He's a 19-year-old player who's had an exceptional season and by then will have had virtually 60 matches by that point. Somebody has to protect him. Somebody has to manage the development of a young player, and that has to be my call."
Rashford has won five caps for the Three Lions this season, following on from his three matches at Euro 2016.
Darren Plant
