Erik Ten Hag vows to tackle Old Trafford culture as Marcus Rashford 'calls in sick'

Erik ten Hag promised to deal with the absence of Marcus Rashford after the England striker missed Manchester United's 4-2 FA Cup victory at Newport.

Rashford reported ill on Friday after reportedly spending the previous evening at a Belfast nightclub.

"He reported ill," United boss Ten Hag said after watching his side survive a massive fright in South Wales as League Two Newport fought back to 2-2 after conceding twice inside the opening 13 minutes.

"The rest is internal matter. I deal with it, we will deal with it."

Ten Hag said there was a "no good culture" when he arrived at United in 2022 and he has encountered disciplinary issues during his Old Trafford tenure.

United misfit Jadon Sancho returned to Borussia Dortmund on loan earlier this month after falling out with the Dutchman.

Asked if Rashford was another example of that "no good culture", Ten Hag said: "I don’t go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on."

United established early command against opponents 76 places below them in the pyramid, Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo – with his first senior goal – producing excellent strikes.

But Bryn Morris and Will Evans scored either side of half-time and United were in danger of becoming victims of a seismic giant-killing act before Antony and Rasmus Hojlund struck in the final quarter.

Ten Hag said: "The first 35 minutes it was very dominant. We did not give the opponent any chance and should have been three, four, five-nil up.

"Out of nothing they score a goal and straight after half-time again.

"We have to be critical of bad defending in transition. Poor defending from the cross, it’s 2-2, and they turned it around.

"But you see how resilient we are. We stayed calm, went back in