Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin has defended Marcus Rashford after his Belfast bender.

The Manchester United striker has been disciplined after missing Friday training having been boozing in Northern Ireland the previous day.

Nevin wrote for BBC Sport: "Manchester United rarely let you down, well they rarely do when you are writing for the sports pages. For a moment there was the real possibility of one of the greatest upsets in the history of the FA Cup at the weekend, when Newport County from the fourth tier of English football, came back from 2-0 down to equalise. Had United lost then Erik ten Hag might as well have flown straight to Amsterdam rather than Manchester. Sacking would have been inevitable.

"As it was, the nightmare was averted but there is always the next headline and this was duly provided by Marcus Rashford's absence. Was he rested, injured, ill or simply in the manager's bad books after popping off to Northern Ireland for a spot of nightclubbing and forgetting to tell his boss?

"Whatever the truth, the phrase, 'it will be dealt with internally' made me smile. Nothing happens internally at United; the club is too big and too leaky; the news always seems to get out.

"I feel unqualified to have a go at Marcus. I once popped over to Heathrow one Tuesday after training for Chelsea. I flew to Paris on a cheap standby ticket and got the train another 200 miles south to Bourges just to see my then favourite band - The Cocteau Twins seeing as you asked. I stayed over, got the red eye back in time for training and the team manager was none the wiser.

"Even goody-two-shoes here had a little adventure now and again. Marcus probably just felt he needed a break, a dalliance with normality, some time away from Manchester's mayhem. Unfortunately, you just can't get away with it if you are a United and England striker, especially one whose goals have sunk from one in two, to one in five, in just one season."