LONDON: Aston Villa manager Unai Emery said he was “happy” for Marcus Rashford as the England forward prepares to make his 500th career appearance.
Rashford has undergone something of an on-field revival since joining the Birmingham club on loan from Manchester United, with the England forward scoring three goals in his last two Villa outings.
He is now set to make his 12th appearance for Emery’s side at home to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, having made 426 appearances for United in total and won 62 caps for England.
“Happy for him,” Emery said. “Happy because he is achieving individual objectives as well, with these appearances he is doing, playing matches here with us.
“And try to enjoy with him, not more, try to feel comfortable himself every day here, with everything we are doing and with his team-mates.
“Training, playing and of course with the challenges we have together, to try to achieve, and to play in his best form, qualities, skills and confidence.”
Villa are chasing a seventh straight win in all competitions against high-flying Midlands rivals Forest as they aim to continue an impressive season.
They reached the FA Cup semifinals with victory at Preston on Sunday, and Wednesday’s 3-0 win at Brighton lifted them to within four points of the top four with eight games to play.
Spanish manager Emery could have a full-strength squad to face Forest, with Ross Barkley recovering from a long-term knee injury and Leon Bailey set for a late fitness test.
Emery said having returning players available again would be vital to how Villa finished the season, adding: “We don’t have now time to explain a lot about how we are, and how we are playing a lot of matches now being very, very important in Premier League, in Champions League and in FA Cup.
“Of course, the players now, we are recovering players, we are feeling stronger.
“We were in some moments in the season with some players injured, with some players not feeling physically good.
“We were struggling sometimes and not achieving the objective we were facing in that moment.
“Of course now, with the players we have more or less available for (Saturday’s) match, or the match we play before, I’m happy because my plan is to try to extend 90 minutes competing in the demands we have, and the demands (of) the opponent facing us.”
Emery glad to see Rashford make landmark appearance
https://arab.news/w96pu
Emery glad to see Rashford make landmark appearance
- “Happy for him,” Emery said
- “Happy because he is achieving individual objectives as well, with these appearances he is doing, playing matches here with us”
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
