NEW PORT
\nErik ten Hag insisted he will deal with Marcus Rashford\u2019s absence after the Manchester United star missed Sunday\u2019s 4-2 victory at Newport in the FA Cup.
\nTen Hag claimed Rashford was absent from the fourth round clash in south Wales after saying he was ill on Friday.
\nBut reports over the weekend suggested the England forward had spent Thursday evening at a Belfast nightclub before missing training with United the next day.
\n\u201cHe reported ill,\u201d United boss Ten Hag said after United blew a two-goal lead before surviving their trip to fourth tier Newport.
\n\u201cThe rest is an internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it.\u201d
\nTen Hag said there was a \u201cno good culture\u201d when he arrived at United and he has encountered disciplinary issues during his Old Trafford tenure.
\nUnited winger Jadon Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan earlier this month after falling out with the Dutchman.
\nRashford was also dropped for a Premier League match against Wolves last season after turning up late to a team meeting when he overslept.
\nPressed on his latest issue with Rashford, Ten Hag said: \u201cI don\u2019t go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on.\u201d
\nUnited struck twice in the first half against opponents 76 places below them in the pyramid thanks to goals from Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo.
\nBut Bryn Morris and Will Evans scored either side of half-time to leave United in danger of a humiliating defeat.
\nAntony and Rasmus Hojlund struck in the final stages to spare United\u2019s blushes, but it was another disjointed display in a difficult season for Ten Hag.
\n\u201cThe first 35 minutes it was very dominant. We did not give the opponent any chance and should have been three, four, five-nil up,\u201d Ten Hag said.
\n\u201cOut of nothing they score a goal and straight after half-time again.
\n\u201cWe have to be critical of bad defending in transition. Poor defending from the cross, it\u2019s 2-2, and they turned it around.
\n\u201cBut you see how resilient we are. We stayed calm, went back in our game, got the third and fourth goal, so job done.\u201d
\nCasemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw were all back in the United starting line-up after injury, while Harry Maguire made a late cameo for his first appearance since December 12.
\nTen Hag hopes the return of those experienced stars can help a team who are eighth in the Premier League and have been eliminated from the Champions League.
\n\u201cI know the character from Licha (Martinez), Casemiro, Luke Shaw, (Raphael) Varane, Bruno, Antony, (Alejandro) Garnacho, Hojlund. All fighters,\u201d Ten Hag said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW PORT Erik ten Hag insisted he will deal with Marcus Rashford\u2019s absence after the Manchester United star missed Sunday\u2019s 4-2 victory at Newport in the FA Cup. Ten Hag claimed Rashford was absent from the fourth round clash in south Wales after saying he was ill on Friday. But reports over the weekend suggested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384061,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-384043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n