Erik Ten Hag has refused to divulge on Marcus Rashford's ankle injury ahead of the Carabao Cup final this weekend.
The Manchester United star went off in the dying stages against Barcelona in the Europa League last night but it remains to be seen whether his withdrawal was anything more than mind games from the Dutchman.
When asked about Rashford's availability, Ten Hag said: "I don't know. "The players are just coming in now. We need to do the investigations. We did yesterday but it's too soon after a game. So we have to wait for the medical team now."
In an intriguing press conference ahead of the Wembley showpiece, Ten Hag also spoke about playing against Eddie Howe's Magpies. And he knows that it will be a tough prospect given Newcastle's spiky reputation.
He said: "They are an annoying team. They try to annoy you. They are quite successful with it. We have to get speed into our game.
"For instance, so if you see the referees want to play an effective time. They have the lowest in the league and they are quite successful with it.
"So it's up to us that we get speed in the game and we are also then dependent on the refereeing as well. I'm not in the instructions of the opponents, so I don't know [if Newcastle will miss Pope's time-wasting]. Also, I can't influence that.
"We have to make it our game, so focus on the job and playing football when the ball is in the game, it's about that, so fully concentrated on that. Don't get distracted from what can be, whatever is on the pitch. We have to focus on the job we have to find our way and found out the moments we can strike."
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