Manchester United attacker Bruno Fernandes has said that Marcus Rashford's form has been "a big part" of the team's improvement this season.

The Red Devils are still fighting for four trophies this season, and the first of those could be secured this weekend, when they take on Newcastle United in the final of the EFL Cup.

Man United are third in the Premier League table, meanwhile, just five points off leaders Arsenal, and they are in the fifth round of the FA Cup, with West Ham United their opponents on March 1.

Erik ten Hag's side will also be bidding to reach the knockout round of the Europa League when they welcome Barcelona to Old Trafford for the second leg of their playoff affair on Thursday, with the tie delicately poised at 2-2 following the first leg last week.

Rashford has scored 24 goals and registered eight assists in 36 appearances at club level this season, and Fernandes has lavished praise on his teammate, who netted a brace in Sunday's 3-0 success over Leicester City at Old Trafford.

"It's been unbelievable for us (Rashford's form). Obviously, we want to enjoy his moment, carry on, because he's been really important for us, his goals have been a big part for us," Fernandes told MUTV.

"Today, again, it was amazing, even sometimes when you can think he's a little bit out of the game, he can make his runs, he can go in behind, he can out-run people and score because he finishes really well, strong.

"We have to enjoy his moment and make sure that he carries this on because we have to serve him."

Fernandes also paid tribute to David de Gea for his performance against Leicester, with the Spaniard needing to make two excellent first-half saves to deny Harvey Barnes and Kelechi Iheanacho.

"I think obviously we didn't enter the game really well, we gave them some chances, David did some great saves, amazing saves, that's why he's one of the best in the world," the Portugal international added.

"But we should have controlled better the ball, the possession, in the first half, and in the first 15 minutes. After that I think we get the control of the game.

"I think the second half overall was much better than the first one, but we didn't concede and we score our goal in the first half, which makes us in the second half be more proactive and understand what we should do to get more goals and more stability in our possession."

Rashford made the breakthrough in the 25th minute against Leicester before registering a second in the 56th minute; Jadon Sancho then completed the scoring just past the hour, with the Red Devils recording their 15th win of what has been an encouraging 2022-23 Premier League campaign to date. body check tags ::