Gareth Southgate disappointed not to have Marcus Rashford for Euro qualifiers

Posted Saturday, March 25, 2023 by Dailystar.co.uk

England boss Gareth Southgate has responded to Marcus Rashford jetting off to New York for a holiday after pulling out of the squad for their Euro 2024 qualifiers due to an injury

Gareth Southgate disappointed not to have Marcus Rashford for Euro qualifiers
Marcus Rashford's absence from England duty is said to have disappointed Gareth Southgate (Image: Getty Images)

Gareth Southgate admits he is disappointed not to have had Marcus Rashford in his England plans for the Euro qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine.

Rashford pulled out of the squad after picking up an unspecified injury in Manchester United's FA Cup win over Fulham. Despite being injured, Rashford took the chance to jet to New York with his girlfriend for some "down time".

He posted pictures of himself in Central Park on social media - just hours before his England team-mates were preparing to face the Italians in Naples.

Gareth Southgate admits he is disappointed not to have had Marcus Rashford in his England plans for the Euro qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine.

He posted pictures of himself in Central Park on social media - just hours before his England team-mates were preparing to face the Italians in Naples.

Gareth Southgate disappointed not to have Marcus Rashford for Euro qualifiers
Rashford is currently in New York enjoying a holiday with girlfriend Lucia Loi (Image: marcusrashford/Instagram)

"So, in terms of a loss when you haven’t had him that often, then it’s different to being a loss. But without a doubt he was in good form. We were looking forward to seeing him."

It's the fifth time Rashford has withdrawn from the Three Lions through injury since 2020. England were unaware of his trip to the USA with girlfriend Lucia Loi.

He's shared two snaps from his travels to his 15.2million Instagram followers this week - one of him wrapped up warm and throwing up a peace sign in the streets of New York which he captioned "downtime", and another of the pair of them posing in front of a water fountain in Central Park.