Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has said that Marcus Rashford must improve on the positioning in the box in order to become a top-class striker for Manchester United. The England international started the season on a high with a brace against Chelsea but he has since gone six games without finding the net.

This has already led to criticism from the supporters with some indicating that the 21-year-old may need to be dropped from the starting XI altogether. Speaking on Sky Sports, Shearer said that he has some sympathy for the United graduate, who has been struggling with the end product since the curtain-raiser against Chelsea.

He added that the youngster is far off from becoming the 25-30 goal striker for the Red Devils and must find the killer instinct with dynamic movement in the box, he told:  “I have some sympathy for Rashford, who failed to score in open play for the sixth successive match this season, because it would not give me great hope of getting 25 or 30 goals if I was playing in that team – but he has got to help himself too. We still don’t know if the 21-year-old is going to end up as a centre-forward, but if he is going to be a top-class striker with a killer instinct then his movement in the box needs to improve dramatically, and he needs to learn to score the ugly goals as well.”

Rashford has been ever-present for the Red Devils this season but he won’t feature during the forthcoming games after picking up a groin problem at West Ham United. United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed that the youngster would be sidelined for a while and a scan would determine the exact timeframe for the recovery. Manchester United are scheduled to host Rochdale during the midweek League Cup third round tie.