Marcus Rashford has praised his 'extraordinary' Manchester United teammates for fuelling his incredible individual form after the World Cup break.
The 25-year-old enjoyed his best-ever goalscoring season at United, netting 30 times in 56 appearances across all competitions to help bring the Carabao Cup trophy to Old Trafford and secure a third-place finish in the Premier League.
Amid a solid season throughout, Rashford enjoyed a purple patch after returning from World Cup duties with England. For long periods he was the most prolific player in Europe after Qatar, sewing together a run of 16 goals in 17 games.
"I just tried to keep working hard," Rashford said on his post-World Cup form. "I've been working hard from the beginning of the season. We didn't start the season very well, but as the team improved, I improved and that's credit to my teammates because as a forward the only thing you can do is make runs.
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"It's up to your teammates to be able to find the passes and make your runs count. I have some fantastic teammates that have some extraordinary capabilities and it's a big thanks to them."
United's progression into the latter stages of every competition - as well as both Carabao and FA Cup finals, they made it to the last eight of the Europa League - saw them endure one of their most congested schedules. A fortunate fitness record saw Rashford play 56 times for his club plus another five at the World Cup, but a slow end to the season suggested the forward was far from fully fit.
A call-up for England for end-of-season Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia could take Rashford to 63 games for the season, and the forward has hit out at what he believes to be a dangerously packed schedule.
Asked whether he thinks the schedule is too busy, he added: "To be honest I think that's evident. It's mad that at club level, we’re playing against teams that play one game a week and we’re playing three games a week from November up until we got knocked out of the Europa League. It's difficult but at the same time, we’re used to doing it. But I don't think it's right.
"In the earlier stages of my career I just couldn't make sense of it. I know some managers have spoken about it, but if one team is playing 60 games in a year and another 38 there needs to be some time for the team that's playing 20 extra games to recover and prepare properly for the games."
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