Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hails world-class Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford after duo return from injury

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hailed Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford as world-class after the pair returned from injury to inspire United in their last two matches after the coronavirus suspended Premier League returned. United drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur and beat Sheffield United 3-0 after Project Restart.

With both Rashford and Pogba returning to action after overcoming injury, they strengthened United’s squad for the remainder of the season with Solskjaer seeking to earn a top four finish in the Premier League and lift the Emirates FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League. It may not work that way though. Speaking about the pair, Solskjaer said:

“With so many players back fit now, everybody can see the quality we have in our ranks.

“The players who came on at Spurs made a difference, which shows you the level of competition we’ve got in the squad now.

“Even before lockdown we were on a strong run of form. Now we’re able to call upon world-class players like Paul and Marcus returning from injury.

“Paul could tell you more than most about our evolution, because the team he’s rejoining now is a different team to the one that started the season. Our development is there for all to see.”

United kept chase on Chelsea with a 3-0 victory over the Blades on Wednesday and now just two points split the two sides, which could be strengthened if Frank Lampard’s side beat Manchester City on Thursday evening. Pogba made his first start since September in the match, which shows how much he has been missed this season.

Anthony Martial scored his first hat-trick for United against the Blades, the first hat-trick scored by a United player since Zlatan Ibrahimovic scores three goals against Saint-Etienne in the Europa League on the 16 February 2017. Solskjaer has also confirmed that he has been helping Martial with his finishing, speaking after the victory over the Blades, he said:

“We have worked a lot with Anthony on his movement in there and to be patient in there because he’s a quality player who can drop out of the box and get some touches.

“But that’s where you score the goals, and the last one of course was very nice combination play and a great finish.

“We work with the boys on finishing all the time. We could have scored more today, so we don’t want to miss chances where we could score and Anthony was very efficient.”

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I support Manchester United, the greatest English football team to have ever existed. Bruno Fernandes is the latest in a long line of players with great ability to play for the club. I idolised Bryan Robson, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Eric Cantona growing up.