Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is returning to his best form after taking control of his career, manager Erik ten Hag says.
After hitting a personal best 30 goals in his first season under Ten Hag, Rashford’s form collapsed last term.
The 26-year-old scored just eight times and lost his place in Gareth Southgate’s European Championship squad.
In addition, Rashford was dropped for the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Newport in January as a disciplinary measure after going out without permission on a trip to Belfast.
“I think he is on the way back,” said Ten Hag.
“He always knew, and every player knows, when your lifestyle is not right, you can’t perform. You don’t get the right levels when you don’t have a good and disciplined life away from [United’s training ground] Carrington.”
Rashford scored twice in the midweek EFL Cup hammering of Barnsley to take his seasonal tally to three. It was the end of December before he reached the same mark last season.
The return of legendary former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who became part of Ten Hag’s coaching team this summer, has helped. But Ten Hag feels Rashford is responsible for his own performance and putting himself in the right condition to play.
“In this club, you definitely need some resilience,” he said.
“No football career is only up. You always go down. You have to deal with it. He took control of it and I think he is on the way back.
“Probably he needed some help but at the end of the day, he has to do it by himself.
“He has to set his life right, his training attitude right, his match attitude right. When he sets his professionalism he will perform because he is a class player.”
England’s new interim manager Lee Carsley left Rashford out of his squad for the recent Nations League victories over the Republic of Ireland and Finland.
However, there are more rounds of fixtures in October and November and Ten Hag feels Rashford, who has 60 full caps, will not be on the outside of the international scene for long.
“It is not up to me but I think he will always be an option for every manager.”