Former Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra is expecting Marcus Rashford to find it difficult to break back into the Red Devils XI following Wednesday's 2-1 win over Chelsea.

Rashford's lacklustre performance against Newcastle United on Saturday evening saw him dropped to the bench for the contest with Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Antony played off the right, with Alejandro Garnacho on the left, and both players impressed in the narrow success over Mauricio Pochettino's side.

Anthony Martial was also overlooked for a start, with Rasmus Hojlund selected through the middle, and Evra is expecting head coach Erik ten Hag to keep faith with the same XI for the clash with Bournemouth on Saturday.

"He put the right players on the pitch and United fans won't understand if that same team doesn't play the next game,' Evra told Amazon Prime after the success over Chelsea.

"I will understand if it's an injury, but I think it will be tough for Marcus and Martial to come back in the starting XI. Garnacho had an amazing game, Antony had an amazing game and the work ethic, you can have nothing negative to say about those players.

"So I hope this team will stay [as it is] and it's going to be tough for Marcus and Martial and they will have to fight to get their places back because the kids played very well today."

Ahead of the clash against Chelsea, Evra was critical of the Man United players for their performance in last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United.

"I was quite pleased with the performance in the Champions League [against Galatasaray]. Anyone can make a mistake and we drew the game," he said on Wednesday.

"But against Newcastle it was unprofessional. I saw things, such as the attitude, where players didn't even want to be on the pitch.

"Marcus Rashford is a winger. When I was playing as a left-back, I didn't even ask my winger to come back [to provide defensive cover]. I remember Giggsy [Ryan Giggs], at 39, even in training, never seeing him give up like that, even in a training session.

"He would never give up like that. Those things, I cannot accept. Manchester is an industrial city, people work hard and that is what people want from their players. You have to work hard; you don't have to be flashy. Right now, I don't see that and it hurts."

Rashford has only scored twice in 19 appearances in all competitions during the 2023-24 campaign, and his body language during his struggles has been heavily criticised.

Following the clash with Newcastle, Ex-Red Devils captain Roy Keane accused the attacker of lacking leadership skills. body check tags ::