KOP & CITY GLORY BROUGHT ME OUT IN A RASH

But that misery is driving United fan and striker Marcus to step up and bring back the glory days

AS a lifelong Manchester United fan, the success enjoyed by Manchester City and Liverpool last season cut deep for Marcus Rashford.

The Manchester-born striker found it hard to stomach, as City won the Premier League and Liverpool the Champions League, making it a depressing double for United supporters.

The Red Devils’ misery was compounded by their own failings, as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side finished sixth and missed out on a Champions League spot.

But Rashford has returned for pre-season training with a burning desire to take United back to the top. The 21-yearold, fresh from signing a new five-year deal worth up to £300,000 a week, admitted watching City and Liverpool lift the two biggest trophies was hard to take.

“That just makes putting United back to where they were an even bigger challenge – and you never shy away from a challenge,” he said.

“It’s important we face it head on. What’s happened has happened and we have to move forward as a team. Everyone is positive and the mentality is how it should be.

“We know last season wasn’t good enough, but we’ve put it behind us and we’ve worked harder than ever to try to put things right and, going into the season, that’s what we’ll be looking to do.”

Despite Barcelona registering interest in him, Rashford said there was never any prospect of him not committing his future to Old Trafford.

Getting United back to the top, where they were for two decades under Sir Alex Ferguson, remains his primary aim.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to help the club get back to where they were, so the decision wasn’t hard, because I don’t feel like we’ve done that,” said Rashford, speaking in Perth, ahead of United’s pre-season opener against Perth Glory on Saturday.

“But everyone is looking forward to doing that – not only me. That’s something the dressing-room shares and everyone is looking forward to trying to get that dream done.” Rashford scored 13 times last season, the same total as in the previous campaign.

But Solskajer believes he is capable of becoming more prolific and plundering 20-plus goals next term.

“I feel now I’m in a better condition to do that,” said Rashford. “It’s been tough, pretty much every pre-season I’ve had a tournament or something with the national team. Then your break is shorter, you have to come back quicker, and it can be difficult to start the season up and running.

“But I feel like this year, between me and the manager, we’ve managed it better, and physically I feel in better condition.

“You don’t put a number on it, but you want to score as many goals as you possibly can and, for us forwards, it’s just about goals and assists.”

Rashford dismissed comparisons between his goal return and those of Sergio Aguero and Harry Kane, pointing out they play through the middle, while he has more versatility in his United role.

“It’s a different situation,” he added. “They play No.9 for 38 games of the season. I’ve not done that. My goal was never to be a No.9 that can’t play anywhere else, it was to try and be as free-flowing as possible.

“That’s how United have brought me up and, playing on the left, playing on the right, that’s what I want to do, that’s what I believe in.”