Rashford calls for defensive improvements at Manchester United

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Marcus Rashford believes Manchester United must tighten up defensively if they are to achieve their goals this season.

Rashford scored United’s final goal on Saturday as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side beat West Ham 3-1 at the London Stadium.

That was United’s fourth Premier League victory on the bounce and extended their winning run away from home to nine games stretching back to last season.

Remarkably, United have won all five matches on their travels this term despite conceding the first goal in each of them.

And while Rashford was pleased with the resilience his teammates showed in mounting another comeback, he has called for defensive improvements.

‘We need to stop doing that. If we keep more clean sheets we will definitely win more games,’ the England international, who began Saturday’s game on the bench, told Sky Sports.

‘It is good that we showed spirit, but ideally we don’t want to be conceding.

‘We defended quite well. They have dangerous players on the counter-attacks. We managed to get through it. Once you get to half time it is a chance to regroup and we came out refocused.

‘Sometimes it is not about what the manager says but what we can see on the pitch. We didn’t get around them enough. Nothing threatening to the backline. The team knew what we had to do.’

Two-thousand West Ham fans were permitted to watch Saturday’s game at the London Stadium after an enforced nine-month absence.

And Rashford says he is pleased to see supporters back in stadiums, even though United are not yet allowed to host spectators at Old Trafford due to Greater Manchester’s position in tier three of the government’s regional coronavirus restrictions.

‘It is something the game has missed,’ Rashford added. ‘It is what makes it special. It is a great feeling to have fans back.’