Man Utd and England forward Marcus Rashford closes in on return to fitness

Marcus Rashford has revealed he is in a “much better place” in recovery from the back injury that has sidelined him since January.

Before the coronavirus outbreak saw the season halted there were fears at Manchester United and England that the double stress fracture suffered by the forward would rule him out of the rest of the campaign.

The 22-year-old has been working hard to regain fitness for whenever the season resumes, currently set for an unrealistic date of April 30, and said he is feeling good.

“I feel much better,” he told Sky Sports News.

“I have a scan in another couple of days so it’ll solidify it then but I feel, comparing it to two or three weeks ago, 10 times better and for me now it’s just about getting ready to build it back up to training and playing games with the team.

“I’m in a much better place, I’m much happier than I was about a month ago so things are looking positive.”

With government advice to stay at home during the pandemic, Rashford explained how – given his recovery programme – the current state of play has had little impact on his recovery work.

“Everyone is just dealing with the circumstances as well as they can,” he said.

“I’ve just been in my house, doing my gym and recovery work, reading books, watching Netflix, just whatever you can do to make the time pass really.

“There’s not really anything that comes close to that feeling of being in the changing room and in the team in my opinion.

“So to be honest I’m not trying to chase that high. I had to have time off anyway because of my injury.

“But I’m fortunate enough to have a bike in the gym downstairs so not much in that sense has actually changed for me because I can still do my daily routine that I was doing.”

Rashford has also been doing his bit for those less fortunate.

After donating to homeless charities last year, he has been backing an initiative by Fare Share to distribute food to those in need during the coronavirus lockdown.