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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hit back at claims he put himself before Marcus Rashford – leading to the Manchester United striker’s lengthy injury lay-off.

BBC pundit Ian Wright accused Solskjaer of looking after himself ahead of Rashford, by playing the striker when he was already suffering pain and discomfort.

Rashford is out for at least three months after coming off the bench in United’s 1-0 FA Cup win over Wolves and suffering a double stress fracture of the back.

Solskjaer refused to rule out Rashford missing the rest of the season, but rejected Wright’s claim he put his own interests ahead of those of his player by playing him.

“I never put myself before the team,” said Solskjaer. “I always put the team and the club before anything else.

(Image: Getty Images)

“We have to manage players every single day, loads of things that Ian Wright or anyone doesn’t know about.

“Marcus had minor discomfort in his back since the Burnley game. That was three weeks before this game.

“I had a discussion and conversation with him a day or two days before and said ‘FA Cup, I’m going to rest you’.

“He was very, very adamant that, if needed, he could at least do half-an-hour, because we wanted to go through in the FA Cup.

“He had an extra day of treatment and recovery, because we wanted to give him every chance to be ready for the coming games.

(Image: PA)

“He had no complaints training the day before the game, he did really well.

“He looked free and when I asked him if he was okay to be on the bench, no problem. He wanted to come on. It’s just one of those unfortunate things.”

Asked if Rashford could miss the rest of the season, Solskjaer said: “He’s going to get as long as he needs to get fit.

“We’re not going to risk him when he’s had an injury. I’ve got the best medical staff in the country and I’m sure when Marcus comes back, he’ll be 100 per cent fit.”

Former United star Paul Ince said: “I’ve seen a lot of people blaming Ole, but for me, you have to ask yourself what on earth were the medical staff doing.

“What were the medical staff doing when he was finishing those games since Burnley when he first complained about his back? Because obviously, you have to be careful how you treat a back injury.

“If he’s been feeling the pain after a game, what exactly were the medical team doing with him?

"It’s clearly a problem that wasn’t going away or improving, and it’s obvious that, because Rashford has been the talisman and goalscorer, they wanted to play him every week.

“From the outside looking in it feels like they were reluctant to rest him for a couple of weeks and try and mend it, because they knew how crucial he was for the team.

“I’ve got no doubt that Rashford himself will have wanted to play every game, too. That’s the kind of player he is.

"But ultimately the medical staff should be saying, ‘no, you’re out for two weeks, you need some rest and you can’t play.”