Rashford not at his best form for England selection - Southgate

Gareth Southgate

said that

Marcus Rashford

is "clearly not at his best" after showing a poor run of form for

.

The England international has only six involvements in goals during 19

games for Manchester United and will not be part of the

squad that will go against Switzerland and Ivory Coast in friendlies.

The 24-year-old has 46 caps for his country and netter 12 goals, with his latest goal coming in the battle against Romania in a pre-Euro 2020 friendly.

This season, however, he was in the starting XI for Red Devils only 10 times and speculations are raising that he may depart Old Trafford in the summer before the World Cup starts.

"

He is in the same position as everyone else, whether they are in the squad or not,"

Southgate said.

"They've all got to play well towards the end of this season and, in particular, at the beginning of next season.

"It is a difficult time for him, he's clearly not at his best, but there is plenty of time. We know what Marcus can bring, and hopefully he can rediscover the form he's capable of."

The forward was not the only Man Utd player to be left out as Jadon Sancho is also not part of Southgate’s squad notwithstanding his five goal involvements during his last six matches in the Premier League.

Southgate admitted that Sancho is improving his form at the club level after a slow start to his career at United, saying that his absence was because of the competition other attackers provided at United.

"

You just have to look at the other attacking players in the squad: Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Phil Foden,"

the England boss said.

"Jadon's performances have improved at Manchester United, but it is an area where we have big competition for places."

Kyle Walker, the Manchester City right-back, was also not included but the England boss insisted that he the upcoming games are a chance to check other right-back options.

"

I had a chat with Kyle; we felt this was an opportunity to have a look at the two younger full-backs,"

Southgate said.

"We know all there is to know about Kyle; he's a very important player, and he'll be back with us in June [for Nations League matches].

"We are very happy with what he's done. He's been a huge part of the progress we've made with this team, and you can see in the biggest matches with Manchester City this year, he's still been a key player for them.

"These young full-backs [Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James] are exciting."

Southgate slammed the suggestion claiming that Harry Maguire could have been left out, stating that he is of great importance notwithstanding recent criticisms about his performance.

"

There wasn't a chance we weren't going to call him up,"

Southgate said.

"He's one of our best centre-backs

."

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