Marcus Rashford faces the wrath of Erik ten Hag after the Manchester United boss said he would “deal with” the England striker amid confusion over the timing of the night in Belfast last week.
Rashford was absent from United's squad for the 4-2 win over Newport County in the FA Cup on Sunday.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
The 26-year-old was ill on Friday and was unable to train with the team that day or Saturday.
Despite not feeling well enough to travel to Newport, he was able to train at Carrington on Sunday.
United learned of a trip to a nightclub in Belfast that Rashford took on Wednesday, ahead of a day off scheduled for Thursday.
However, later media reports said he was also out on Thursday night, hours before he was due to report for training in Manchester.
Ahead of the match against Newport, Ten Hag refused to answer a question about whether Rashford had been excluded from the match as punishment, later only saying that the incident is being treated as “an internal matter”.
“He called in sick,” Ten Hag said. “As for the rest, it's an internal matter. I'll take care of it. Like I said, it's an internal matter.”
It is not the first time Ten Hag has been frustrated by Rashford's behaviour, saying in November that the striker's decision to hold a birthday party in Manchester following the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City was “unacceptable”.
Rashford was also dropped from a match against Wolves last season after arriving late to a team meeting.
He scored 30 goals last season and was rewarded with a new long-term contract in the summer, but has struggled to maintain his form this season, scoring four goals in 26 appearances.
After a particularly poor performance in the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle in December, Ten Hag left Rashford on the bench for the next two games against Chelsea and Bournemouth.
