Why is Marcus Rashford not in Aston Villa squad vs Crystal Palace - as Man Utd loanee forced out

Aston Villa attacker Marcus Rashford hasn’t even been named on the bench to face Crystal Palace at Wembley in the FA Cup semi-finals.

The Manchester United loanee is forced out with a knock, more specifically a ‘small muscle injury’, Birmingham World has been told.

There had been rumours circulating online before the lineups were announced that Rashford’s problem was hamstring-related, but Villa have not revealed the finer details.

Emery was asked about Rashford’s absence by BBC Sport, but his response was rather blunt. “He’s injured,” the Spaniard said, refusing to elaborate on the extent of the problem.

As gutting as it is for Rashford to miss out, fellow striker Ollie Watkins benefits as he starts at Wembley. Marco Asensio gets the nod as the number 10, while Morgan Rogers and John McGinn have been deployed on the flanks.

Elsewhere, Boubacar Kamara and Youri Tielemans start alongside one another in the midfield double pivot. The back four consists of no surprises as Matty Cash, Ezri Konsa, Pau Torres and Lucas Digne are all in the lineup. Emiliano Martinez, widely hailed as ‘the world’s number one’, is between the sticks.

Palace have named a strong side as Jean-Philippe Mateta leads the line with Eberechi Eze and Ismaila Sarr in support. Goalkeeper Dean Henderson has a back three of Chris Richards, Maxence Lacroix and Marc Guehi just in front of him.

To provide some width, Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell start as the Eagles’ two wing-backs. Adam Wharton and Daichi Kamada are then given the nod in midfield.