Carrick told to drop Rashford as pundit ‘would like to see’ another named Man Utd attacker play

Darren Bent has told Manchester United that another attacker should be playing in place of Marcus Rashford in the Manchester derby this weekend.

Rashford has started two of three Premier League games this season, after he was on the bench for the first. He’s yet to score or supply and assist, but the England international has looked promising.

However, he did not play in the Champions League against Sabah on Wednesday night, when attacking colleagues Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko both got on the scoresheet in the 4-0 win for United.

Bent, speaking on talkSPORT, feels Sesko should start against rivals Manchester City at the weekend, and Rashford shouldn’t.

He said: “With Rashford, you’re going to get some Man United fans who have backed him the whole time, even though he’s said, ‘No, I don’t want to come back, I want to stay at Barcelona.’

“You still welcomed him back because he’s one of your own, you love him, you’ve always loved him. I think, for the manager, it’s a nice problem to have.

“This is not a problem because you’ve got Sesko scoring goals now and, me, being a former centre-forward, I would like to see Sesko play in his position.

“Rashford, to me, looks sharper this season. Cunha’s playing really well. [Bryan] Mbeumo’s playing well.

“At least you’ve got all these options now that are playing well so, rather than Michael Carrick going, ‘What am I going to do this week, none of them are playing well, what do I do?’

“They’re all scoring goals, so it’s a nice problem…I would opt to go for Mbeumo, Sesko, Cunha from the left.”

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Marcus Rashford hasn’t had a fair run

Bent is aware, though, that Rashford hasn’t been given the run of games of his team-mates, especially having only started two of four games this season.

The pundit said: “The only reason why I feel this is a little bit unfair, and this could be the same for most, is that Mbeumo’s getting a good run of games.

“Rashford’s not really had a run yet, and you’re only going to get the best of Rashford when he’s playing, playing, playing.”

But manager Michael Carrick is evidently happy with Rashford, having said things along those lines all summer.

He said: “Really pleased with him in so many ways.

“He was a real threat [against Everton], unfortunate to not get more success but he was a real threat.

“I’m not sure what else to say, just really pleased to have him. We have good options, so trying to keep everyone fresh.”