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Manchester United striker Marcus Rashford will not be fast-tracked into the England squad, according to national under-21 manager Gareth Southgate. Rashford is in consideration to play for the England Under-20 side against Canada on Sunday, with U20 manager Keith Downing having been in communication with United about the best way to handle him. It would be the player's debut for the England Under-20s, but he has already featured for their under-16s and under-18s. The 18-year-old striker scored the only goal in the Manchester derby at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, and suffered a cramp at the end of that game. But he is not being given special privileges and is remaining in England Under-20s plans. He has scored five goals in eight appearances for United, having scored four in his opening two games. Speaking ahead of the under-21's game against Switzerland on Saturday, Southgate said: "Probably the top talents in the world get into first teams very young and establish themselves very young. "We are very conscious that, when you promote a young player too quickly, there can be fallout from that and, at times, the right thing is to move them back down and that is always more difficult. Life is very different for someone like Marcus, who has just scored the winner in a Manchester derby. "At club level, at some point, he might find himself in their under-21s side and that is a difficult process to deal with, so we don't want to add to that internationally. "Let's assess his progress. There is no rush. Roy [Hodgson, the England manager] has got a very settled squad and is very strong in that area of the pitch. "Everyone I speak to at United says he's very level-headed so they don't have concerns about his mentality but, of course, his world has changed dramatically in the last few weeks." The England Under-20's game on Sunday will be broadcast by MUTV, which highlights the interest surrounding the talented youngster.
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