Marcus Rashford left out of Manchester United squad after report of ...

United said that Rashford was not available through illness and that he has remained at their Carrington training facilities to continue his recovery.

It follows a report by The Athletic saying that the United forward went out in Belfast the night before reporting himself as too ill to attend training on Friday.

United were informed that Rashford was out in the Northern Ireland capital on Wednesday night but The Athletic reported seeing confirmation that the player also attended a nightclub the following evening, hours before being scheduled to report for a club training session.

Rashford reportedly attended Thompsons Garage nightclub in the city on Thursday night, returning to Manchester on a private flight the following morning.

On Friday, Erik ten Hag said the England international was unable to train ahead of today’s FA Cup fourth round trip to Newport County due to illness.

Video footage of the 26-year-old’s night out in Belfast subsequently emerged, with United claiming that the images were from Wednesday night — before a scheduled day off for the first team squad.

Rashford was also pictured in another Belfast nightspot — Lavery’s Bar — on Wednesday.

However, multiple sources have since confirmed to The Athletic that Rashford spent two nights celebrating in Belfast, attending Thompsons on Thursday.

Both Manchester United and Rashford’s camp declined to comment when approached by The Athletic.

On Friday Ten Hag said: “This morning, Rashford was ill and (Jonny) Evans was ill so we have to see how they recover.”

United’s players had been given time off before returning to action for today’s FA Cup Fourth Round clash against Newport County.

The squad trained this week, with Rashford involved in the sessions between Monday and Wednesday before his trip to Northern Ireland.

The forward’s trip coincided with his friend and former United youth-team graduate Ro-Shaun Williams signing for Northern Ireland champions Larne.

Images of Rashford’s attendance at Larne’s training facilities were shared on social media on Thursday.

In November, the United boss described Rashford attending a nightclub after his side’s 3-0 defeat in the Manchester derby as “unacceptable”.

“I spoke with him about it. It’s unacceptable. He apologised and that is it. For us it’s an internal matter,” Ten Hag said.

“He’s very motivated to put things right. He’s totally with us.

“He has made a mistake but that doesn’t say he’s not fitting in. I see him every day in training, what he’s doing, I know.”

In Rashford’s absence, United defeated Newport County 4-2 at Rodney Parade with goals from Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Antony and Rasmus Højlund. But the Welsh side gave United a fright with strikes from Bryn Evans and Will Evans levelling the game before Ten Hag’s team scored two late goals.