Van Gaal Keeping Rashford Fresh

Marcus Rashford has been given extra time off as Louis van Gaal aims to keep his in-form striker fresh for the run-in.

The Manchester United manager has revealed he excused Rashford two days' training in the wake of the teenager's winning goal against Aston Villa at the weekend.

That 1-0 victory saw United end the weekend just four points off a top-four spot with five Premier League games to play, the first of them at home to Crystal Palace on Wednesday.

And Van Gaal is reluctant to interrupt Rashford's rhythm by resting him against Palace - even with an FA Cup semi-final against Everton to come three days later.

"I have changed him after 70 minutes [against Villa]," Van Gaal said at his pre-match news conference, "and that is also to give him a little bit of rest.

"He didn't train the day after and also the day after that he didn't train. I want to keep him fresh because he is in the momentum of scoring and that is very important for him but also for the team."

The weekend trip to Wembley is on the back burner for now, according to Van Gaal, who said: "The players have to focus on this game because we still have to qualify for the Champions League.

"It is important to beat Crystal Palace and they have the same problem. They are also in the semi-final [against Watford] and maybe they are thinking about that game. But we have to win our game against them."

And on United's top-four chances the manager said: "I cannot predict, you have to win you own games and then you shall see. Our competitors are losing also."

This week's key games will come too soon for Luke Shaw, but Van Gaal says the left-back is "doing great" as he moves closer to returning from a broken leg.

"He's very positive, he's doing great, I cannot deny that so he's training on the pitch. But now he's training with the physiotherapist and he has to train with the football coach. That still hasn't happened."

Credit: Skysports.com