MANCHESTER, England -- Jose Mourinho has told England manager Gareth Southgate that a lack of game time should not stop Marcus Rashford from going to the 2018 World Cup this summer.
Rashford has not started for Manchester United in the Premier League since Boxing Day and there has been speculation the situation is causing Southgate concern as he prepares to name his squad for friendlies against Netherlands and Italy later this month.
Mourinho, though, has told Southgate to show he trusts the 20-year-old.
"You know, if the national coach trusts him, he selects him," the United manager told a news conference ahead of the trip to Crystal Palace on Monday night. "It doesn't matter if he plays or doesn't play.
"There are many examples of players who don't play for their clubs at all and they go to the national teams. You have the example of [Sergio] Romero, who is the second goalkeeper at Manchester United and the first goalkeeper for such an amazing football country like Argentina.
"In your own country, you have examples of players who play even without scoring a goal in the Premier League. So it's up to Gareth Southgate. If he trusts him, he selects him. It doesn't matter if he plays or if he doesn't play for Manchester United."
Despite competition from Alexis Sanchez, Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata for a place in United's front three, Rashford, who has been capped 15 times by England, has made 38 appearances this season including 25 in the Premier League.
After bursting into the first team under Louis van Gaal in 2016, it is still only his second full season in senior football. And Mourinho believes too much is expected of the youngster because of the blistering start he made to his career.
He said: "At his age, what he's doing is more than enough and the experience he's getting at every level is more than enough for us to be happy with what we think is going to be his future.
"It's as simple as that. But because he had such an impact at the beginning, probably people expect him to play even more than he does, and score even more than he does and perform even more than what he does but it is not so simple.
"What I see makes me really happy, to see the same boy. Marcus is a fantastic boy, also very grounded. For sure, we love him and we believe in him, and he's going to have the chances."