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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
Alex James

Manchester United already know the player who can fill Marcus Rashford void

Manchester United minus Marcus Rashford is an unsettling thought ahead of a pivotal Premier League clash with Wolves.

The England international has been the main man at Old Trafford this season, at times a one-man goalscoring machine in attack. He has fired United to victory on plenty of occasions and is the club's leading scorer by some distance.

So the prospect of him missing for a game United really need to win in their battle to secure a top four spot is an unsettling one. But when one door closes another opens and Erik ten Hag has already been handed a blueprint to coping without Rashford.

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He's only missed two Premier League games so far this season, the last of which came at the City Ground in April. United made the journey on the back of conceding two late, and ultimately costly, goals to Sevilla in the Europa League.

That collapse and United's far-from-excellent away record raised the prospect of a slip-up on the banks of the River Trent. But Ten Hag's side prevailed, winning 2-0 thanks in no small part to Antony.

The Brazil international hasn't offered enough bang for his buck this season but there were signs at the City Ground that the first pennies of the £80million were dropping. He scored the first and assisted the second in a starring performance.

The tricks and flicks were still present but they were joined with an end product, something United have been keen to see more of from their summer signing. It was certainly a showing that pleased his manager.

''When you are a striker you need end product," said Ten Hag. ''He has to do it, not in every game, but he needs to do it in many games if you want to be a top-class player, especially in all the competitions.

''In the Premier League, you are up against high-quality defenders and you have to act on a really high level, you need to make that decision, scan in a split moment and you can only do that in a moment.

''He has to step up there but today is an example where he makes good decisions with both goals, the right decisions.''

He hasn't scored since but he has eight to his name in all competitions and has certainly improved as the campaign has gone on. With Rashford set to miss the trip to Nottingham, Antony has been presented with the perfect chance to firmly remind everyone exactly why United and Ten Hag rate him so highly.

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