Erik ten Hag has backed Marcus Rashford to perform well despite missing two golden opportunities in Manchester United's Community Shield penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester City at Wembley.
Rashford missed chances before and after the break before Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to give United the lead.
Bernardo Silva scored a late equaliser to send the match to penalties and Manuel Akanji found the net with the decisive strike to give City their first Community Shield win since 2019.
The result could have been different had Rashford, who struggled for form last season, made the most of his opportunities but Ten Hag refused to blame the England striker afterwards.
“I think he was in some really good positions a few times,” Ten Hag said. “I'm really happy that he's in those positions. Keep it up, keep making those moves and the team will do it, he'll score goals.”
“He has enough experience to deal with this and once he scores one, then the goals will come.”
Ten Hag was also asked about potential new arrivals Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt.
Sources have told ESPN that United have reached an agreement with Bayern Munich for both players and have agreed a deal to send Aaron Wan-Bissaka to West Ham.
However, Ten Hag declined to comment, saying only that “it is clear” that his team is dealing with problems in defence due to injuries.
“When we have news we will announce it,” he said. “Until then, we will work with the squad that is available. It is clear that we have problems and we have to work. The players have to work to be available and the coaching staff has to work, together there must be good collaboration with the players who are available.”
After losing to City in the Community Shield, Ten Hag will now turn his attention to the Premier League season opener against Fulham at Old Trafford next week.
“We are disappointed,” Ten Hag said. “We have to feel the pain and everyone does. It's a good sign, but I also see some positive aspects.”
“We played well, we could have won this match, we had the advantage twice in the match and in the penalties, but we lost and we are disappointed. But we take the positives.”
