Medical expert fears Rashford is ‘touch and go’ for the Euros

Reported today in Football365.

Marcus Rashford is "touch and go" for Euro 2020 as he battles to recover from a stress fracture of the back, according to one leading medical professional.

The Manchester United and England striker has predicted he will be back in action for United before the end of the campaign but his recovery time remains unclear.

United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer initially said the 22-year-old, who suffered the injury in last week's FA Cup clash with Wolves, would be out for a minimum of six weeks before revising that to "a few months" on Tuesday.

Johnny Wilson, clinical director at 108 Harley Street, believes the forward is facing a race against time to be fit for England's Euro 2020 opener against Croatia at Wembley on June 14.

Wilson told the PA news agency: "In the Premier League there have been seven players over the last 10 years that have reported the same injury as Rashford.

"Their average return-to-playing timeframe was 133 days. Today the Euros are 142 days away, so it is touch and go. He has a chance but everything has to go right."

Rashford's injury, of the vertebrae in the spine, is known a pars stress fracture. It is thought to be caused by repetitive stress on the lumbar region and can develop over time.

There have been reports that Rashford has actually suffered a double stress fracture.

Wilson said: "A unilateral fracture would be a fracture on either side of the vertebrae and a bilateral one would be the left side and the right side having fractured.

"It's a little bit more serious if it's a bilateral one because the vertebrae might be a little bit unstable and more prone to slipping forward, which can cause nerve impingement, sciatica or disc herniation.

"Ninety per cent of those guys will return to play pain-free within four month

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