Eric Black 'astonished' by Marcus Rashford's rise

Aston Villa caretaker boss Eric Black has revealed that he is 'astonished' by Marcus Rashford's first-team performances for Manchester United in recent months.

The 18-year-old has burst onto the scene in 2016, netting six times in 11 appearances for Man United, including the opener against West Ham United in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on Wednesday night.

Black has compared the teenager's rise to that of former Man United striker Danny Welbeck, now of Arsenal, who Black worked alongside when the England international was on loan at Sunderland.

"It's astonishing. I saw [Rashford] when I was at Rotherham in pre-season. We went to Manchester United to play them in a friendly on a Tuesday lunchtime and he didn't actually start, but he came on and you looked at him and thought he was just a young kid with exuberance and whatever," Black told reporters.

"But to have transferred that into the Premier League – he's pretty special, I have to say. Whether he can maintain that I don't know. I worked with Danny Welbeck at Sunderland for a year and it's similar things to him. All the attributes are there and it's whether they can mentally do it."

Basement side Aston Villa will travel to Man United in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.