Gareth Southgate defends decision to include Marcus Rashford in senior squad

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 30 May 2017

Gareth Southgate insists that Marcus Rashford's form for Manchester United essentially ruled him out of England Under-21s contention.

England boss Gareth Southgate has insisted that he had little choice but to leave Marcus Rashford out of the Under-21s squad as he is now considered a senior player in his own right.

The 19-year-old, capped eight times since his breakthrough a year ago, was in contention to feature for the Young Lions during this summer's European Championships in Poland.

Having recently named the Manchester United striker in his squad for games against Scotland and France, however, Southgate has now defended his decision to leave the U21s without arguably their star man.

"When you are talking about young players you need to look at what is right for the individual," he told reporters. "With Marcus, if we had had the conversation in November, December I would have been looking for him to be involved with the U21s if at all possible.

"As the season has gone he has become a more integral part of Manchester United's team. I thought his contribution for us in March was excellent, not only in the matches where I thought he had a really good impact but also on the training pitch and around the camp.

"In my eyes he is a senior player. He has played less for the U21s in this cycle of games than Eric Dier and we wouldn't be talking about Eric Dier going [to the European U21 Championship].

Rashford featured 53 times for United in all competitions during the 2016-17 season, while also appearing as a sub in three of England's World Cup qualifiers.