Rashford eager for Euro 2016 redemption in Russia

Marcus Rashford says the misery of England’s early exit from Euro 2016 is serving as motivation to avoid a similar fate at the World Cup.

Roy Hodgson’s England were surprisingly bundled out by an unfancied Iceland in the first knockout stage of their last major tournament.

Rashford came off the bench in that match as he did in the 2-1 friendly win over Nigeria on Saturday that extended the Three Lions’ unbeaten run to nine matches.

The 20-year-old Manchester United forward is hopeful of maintaining that form to steer clear of another deflating defeat on the big stage.

“The feeling of losing is a nasty feeling. When you speak about [it], people don’t understand,” Rashford told reporters.

“So definitely we’ll take all the things that happened at that tournament into the next one because that is one of the important things to spur us.

“The main thing is to go into a tournament with confidence in ourselves. The easiest way to get that is through performances but we know each individual is working hard in training so we are going to be confident going into the tournament.”

On we go, thanks for the great reception  #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/93kw8nxsqB

— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) June 2, 2018

Dele Alli will also be aiming for a better experience in Russia after starting in three of England’s four matches at Euro 2016.

Questions have been raised over the Tottenham midfielder’s inconsistent club form leading into the World Cup, but manager Gareth Southgate insists his nous in the final third can be a valuable asset.

“His goalscoring record for a player his age is outstanding,” Southgate said.

“At the moment with England he hasn’t found that number of goals, but I’m sure he will because he smells the opportunities.

“In the end the numbers tell a story and his are high.”