Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford's hopes of returning to action before the end of the season have reportedly been given a boost after fresh scans revealed that his back injury is not as serious as first feared.

The 22-year-old has been sidelined since mid-January due to a double stress fracture in his back, and reports last week suggested that he may not feature again this term.

However, the Manchester Evening News reports that United do now expect their top-scorer to return in time for the Premier League run-in, in addition to the latter stages of the Europa League and FA Cup should the team make it that far.

The news will also come as a relief to England, who are facing a striker shortage with Harry Kane also in a race against time to be fit for Euro 2020.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has insisted that he will not rush Rashford back to fitness after seeing him pick up an injury at the end of a hectic spell of fixtures.

Rashford has scored 19 goals and created five more in 31 appearances for the Red Devils across all competitions this season.