•Aston Villa forward, Marcus Rashford eyes the ball during match against Club Brugge KV
Marcus Rashford will miss the rest of Aston Villa’s season after being ruled out of today’s match against Tottenham Hotspur.
Rashford’s hamstring injury will keep the loan signing out of Villa’s last home game and, with their final match coming against parent club Manchester United on May 25, it means the England forward’s campaign is over, reports AFP.
The 27-year-old has been sidelined since last month and missed Villa’s 3-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat by Crystal Palace.
His future remains in doubt, with Birmingham club Villa having a £40 million ($53 million) option to turn his loan move into a permanent deal.
There are reports Rashford wants to play Champions League football next season, with Villa yet to secure a place in European club football’s premier event.
Youri Tielemans has also been ruled out of Friday’s match at home to Europa League finalists Tottenham.
“Youri and Marcus are not available and Jacob Ramsey is suspended,” Villa manager Unai Emery said yesterday.
“We have to do each step forward, testing and analysing how they are recovering.
“I don’t know if they will be available physically (next week), because Marcus can’t play next week.
“But they are working every day and they are feeling better.”
The Tottenham game was moved to Friday night following Spurs’ request for more time to prepare for Wednesday’s Europa League final in Bilbao against another Premier League team in Manchester United.
Villa were not happy with that decision and concerns have been raised that Spurs’ priority today will be to avoid injury.
But Emery expects the north London club, a lowly 17th in the Premier League table, to be competitive at Villa Park.
“They are trying to manage to play Premier League and Europa League, how they are performing in the Europa League is really fantastic,” the Spaniard added.
“They are in the final… they are going to play with their better players, they are going to try and compete in getting the best performances to get ready for the final.”
Sixth-placed Villa are chasing Chelsea, Manchester City and Newcastle as they bid to secure Champions League qualification for a second successive season, with the top five from the Premier League entering next term’s event.
“I wish to play, I don’t want holiday because we are in a very good moment after a long season,” Emery said.
“Now we are very, very motivated, very excited to play in Villa Park tomorrow (Friday) for our objectives we have in front of us to play again in Europe.
“It is not in our hands, but we can have some chance to play Champions League again. We are focusing on Tottenham.”
