MARCUS RASHFORD is winning his battle to be fit for Sunday’s Manchester derby.
The Manchester United forward has been out since suffering a hamstring injury during the club’s 3-1 win over table-toppers Arsenal.
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Rashford scored twice in that game and netted in the 2-1 win over bitter rivals Liverpool.
It was proof that he was finally back on form after a difficult year.
But the injury saw him miss United’s subsequent Europa League games against Real Sociedad and FC Sheriff.
It also made him unavailable for the England squad. He was expected to be called up after his upturn in performances.
But Rashford, 24, is now training again — and feels ready for the Etihad showdown.
One United player who is expecting to be watching the action from the bench again on Sunday will be Luke Shaw.
The United left-back was dropped from the starting line-up after the club’s disastrous opening to the season.
And he does not blame boss Erik ten Hag for his decision to promote Tyrell Malacia ahead of him.
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Shaw said: “It’s understandable, and I even agree, the start of the season wasn’t good enough and he had to make changes. I fully accept that.
“The only thing I can do is train hard and wait for opportunities, whether that’s in cup games or the Premier League. Whatever I play in, I just have to be ready — and then play at the standard I should be at.”
Shaw believes he can force his way back into the team after a series of meetings with the new United boss.
He added: “I think Ten Hag knows my qualities, he knows what I’m capable of and we’ve had chats.”
Plus Shaw scored England’s first as they battled back from 2-0 down to draw 3-3 with Germany on Monday night at Wembley.
It gave him hope of landing a starting spot for the Three Lions at the World Cup.
And Shaw defended England boss Gareth Southgate, who has come in for criticism during a six-game winless run — despite reaching the World Cup semi-finals and then Euros final.
Shaw said: “You look at the results of the last two tournaments and it’s bizarre how people can attack him.
“We have to win a major tournament to be extremely successful but he’s guiding us in the right direction.
“From when he first came in, you’ve seen the difference to now. Results haven’t been good enough but we’ll be ready in Qatar.”
