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Marcus Rashford has expressed his delight after being handed an England recall by new Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel.
Tuchel announced his 26-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Latvia on Friday at Wembley.
The German coach rewarded Rashford for his strong start to life at Aston Villa, having joined on loan from Man United in the January transfer window.
Rashford has made nine appearances in all competitions for his new club and while he has yet to score, the forward has made a valuable contribution, including notching four assists.
He has shown signs of a revival under Unai Emery, responding impressively to being left out of Man United’s squad in the final weeks of his time at his boyhood club.
Rashford has been rewarded by being one of the headline inclusions in Tuchel’s first squad.
Marcus Rashford has expressed his delight at being recalled to the England squad
England boss Thomas Tuchel included Rashford in his 26-man squad for World Cup qualifiers
Rashford wrote ‘Never stop believing, can’t wait to get started’ after confirmation of the call up
He responded with an eight word message on social media to confirmation of his call-up.
‘Never stop believing,’ Rashford wrote. ‘Can’t wait to get started.’
Rashford accompanied the message with a photo of him representing the Three Lions in the past.
The call-up represents an England lifeline for Rashford, who has not played for his country since last month.
Rashford had missed out on last summer’s European Championships.
Tuchel, explaining his squad announcement, claimed the time was right for Rashford to return to the Three Lions set-up.
The England manager stressed that Rashford’s return was partly as an attempt to push him to maintain the standards he has set in the early stages of his Aston Villa career.
‘I felt Marcus had a huge impact at Aston Villa,’ Tuchel said.
Rashford last featured for England in a friendly against Brazil at Wembley last March
Tuchel praised Rashford for his ‘huge impact’ since joining Aston Villa on loan in January
The England boss said the upcoming England camp will attempt to motivate Rashford further
‘He’s made a huge impact mainly from the bench and the impact was impressive.
‘The physical impact was impressive and most importantly, the impact against the ball – his work rate, his defensive impact, his hard work in counter-pressing, his tracking back in his position was impressive.
‘I had the strong feeling that we should nominate him, bring him in to push him to stay on that level and not fall back in old routines.
‘This camp is to bond with him and push him to stay on that level.’
Rashford, who has scored eight goals for his country, will hope to add to his 60 England caps in the upcoming matches against Albania and Latvia.