Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has praised the recent contributions and work-rate of Marcus Rashford, defending the 19-year old for “missing some chances” in recent matches because he is still suffering from the effects of the infamous second season syndrome.

The teenage forward broke into the United first-team under Louis van Gaal last season and enjoyed an extraordinary first campaign in professional football, scoring five goals in 11 league appearances and earning a call up to Roy Hodgson’s Euro 2016 squad.

But Rashford has found his second season in the first-team rather more difficult. He has scored only 3 goals in the league playing under Mourinho and has fallen behind 35-year old Zlatan Ibrahimović in the United pecking order.

Mourinho has however defended Rashford against accusations he has struggled to make an impact this season, instead claiming that a tail-off in performances is “natural” now that he is no longer “the surprise kid”.

“I’m always happy with Marcus Rashford's contribution. He is one of those players that when he is on the pitch he tries, and he always gives something,” Mourinho, whose side entertain 10th-place Watford on Saturday, said during his weekly press conference.

“I know that last season under no pressure, last season in front of the goal, the goal was bigger. And I know this season the expectations are higher, the pressure is higher and the goal is smaller.

Mourinho has backed Rashford to improve on his recent performances next season (Man Utd via Getty Images)

"He is missing some chances because he is not any more the surprise kid. He’s not scoring as many goals as he could because he gets lots of playing time on the pitch. But it is absolutely natural in the second year after a season of explosion, then the expectation and everything changes.”

Mourinho also revealed that a comment Rashford recently made on the training pitch convinced him that the forward will go on to enjoy a fruitful third season at Old Trafford.

“He said something the other day that made me really happy,” Mourinho added. “He says he is learning so much in the technical meetings and training sessions so I think his future will be brilliant. His present is good and we need him.

“I think next season will be very, very good for Marcus because this season he is getting experience at this level of responsibility of being a professional player at a club like Manchester United.”

Henrikh Mkhitaryan has starred since fighting his was into the starting XI (Getty)

The Portuguese manager – who refused to rule out selling goalkeeper David de Gea to Real Madrid in the summer in the same news conference – also found time to laud the recent performances of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

The Armenian international endured a tough start to his Old Trafford career but has been in sensational form in recent weeks, turning in a man of the match performance in the recent 3-0 win away to Leicester.

And Mourinho has been so impressed with the 28-year old’s form that he said he has even considered playing him in defence.

Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Kasper Schmeichel – 4 out of 10 The goalkeeper was a victim of United’s prolific strike force. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Danny Simpson – 5 out of 10 Caught out of position regularly and struggled to keep up with the winger's pace. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Wes Morgan – 6 out of 10 Kept Rashford relatively quiet, but was too motionless at times. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Robert Huth – 5 out of 10 His lack of pace allowed United’s forwards to burst through the defence on several occasions. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Christian Fuchs – 4 out of 10 Too static throughout and lacked effort. Though, he made a good tackle at the end to deny Mkhitaryan. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Danny Drinkwater – 4 out of 10 Certainly needs some shooting practice – wasted far too many chances in front of goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Wilfred Ndidi – 6 out of 10 Read the game well and caused United a problem when he ran with the ball. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Riyad Mahrez – 6 out of 10 When he received the ball, he made a nuisance of himself and looked confident in possession. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Shinji Okazaki – 4 out of 10 Saw very little of the ball – subbed at half time. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Ahmed Musa - 5 out of 10 Enticed a number of fouls from United, but these set pieces were usually wasted. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Jamie Vardy – 5 out of 10 Held the ball up well at times, but lacked so service so he failed to make an impact. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings David De Gea – 5 out of 10 A very quiet afternoon for the keeper, with few chances coming his way. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Antonio Valencia – 7 out of 10 Created a number of United moves and assisted Ibrahimovic’s goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Eric Bailly – 6 out of 10 A disciplined display – remained relatively untested throughout. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Chris Smalling – 7 out of 10 Was a rock at the back today and assisted Mkhitaryan’s goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Marcos Rojo – 5 out of 10 Gave away a number of unnecessary fouls. Subbed at half time. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Juan Mata – 6 out of 10 Deserved his goal, but he was arguably lucky to remain on the pitch after his sliding challenge that earnt him a yellow. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Ander Herrera – 6 out of 10 It was a mediocre display by a man of such ability. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Paul Pogba – 6 out of 10 Aside from the occasional burst forward, he did not have a huge impact on the United attacks. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Henrikh Mkhitaryan – 8 out of 10 He looked at home in the number 10 role. Read the game well, worked relentlessly and deserved his goal. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Marcus Rashford – 6 out of 10 Missed a great chance early in the first half. Was kept relatively quiet for the majority. Leicester 0 Manchester United 3 player ratings Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 7 out of 10 Bagged his 20th goal of the season, created chances and made a nuisance of himself throughout.

“I will use him everywhere I need, I played him left back,” Mourinho joked.

“What we did last weekend is something we will try and do more and more. Start with a system, try to surprise the opponent, [so] then the team is ready to go back and to change during the match.