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• Erik ten Hag confident Marcus Rashford can score 40 goals in a season

  Erik ten Hag believes ever-improving Manchester United star Marcus Rashford can become a 40-goal-a-season forward.

  The 25-year-old pressed reset last summer after the most chastening year of his career, kicked off by his heart-breaking penalty shoot-out miss in England’s Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy.

  Post-tournament shoulder surgery kept Rashford sidelined and an initial flurry of goals on his return quickly dried up amid widespread criticism.

  But a priceless pre-season under new boss Ten Hag led to a resurgence, with Rashford scoring his 30th goal of the season in all competitions in Thursday’s 4-1 win over Chelsea.

  Rashford’s best haul saw him become the first United player to reach 30 goals since Robin van Persie a decade ago, but Ten Hag believes the best is yet to come.

  “There’s a lot of room for improvement in his game,” the United boss said ahead of Sunday’s Premier League finale against Fulham. “I’m convinced he could score even more.

  “I think when you take, for instance, the last 10 games, he didn’t score so many goals. I think only two or three.

  “So, yeah, he can improve but I am happy from where he was last season to what he did now, that he brings himself back.

  “We supported him where we could, with the way of play but also in his mental mindset, so we are happy with that.

  “But, yeah, we have to push for more and I am sure he’s capable to score 40 goals in a season, to make also for him the next step.”

  Asked if Rashford’s form takes the pressure off getting a striker in the summer, Ten Hag said: “We need across the squad more scoring abilities.

  “You can’t be dependent on one. But it can also come from this squad, but we need more scoring abilities.”

  Ten Hag has stressed the need for additions and internal improvements after a promising first season in the dugout.

  United won February’s Carabao Cup and face Manchester City in the FA Cup final after wrapping up a Champions League return with a game to spare.

  “We have to look to ourselves,” Ten Hag said about the next step. “We want to win the cup but that is for next Saturday and we have to do everything that’s in our power.

  “I think in many aspects we can improve with this group of players, with this team. I know where we have to improve. I think there is a lot of room for improvement, yes.”

  Ten Hag feels “fantastic in this club” and says Manchester feels like a home away from home, where the reaction to people he meets on the street is “absolutely positive”.

  That feedback would be even greater from the red half of the city if United can stop rivals City’s treble charge at Wembley in the FA Cup final.

  Asked if the FA Cup final was a free hit given what they have achieved already and City’s standing or a chance to send a statement, Ten Hag retorted: “Both not.

  “But when I was here one year ago, I said we wanted to win trophies. We have won one, so we want to go for the highest.

  “But that is a long, long way, it’s going to be a project. That’s not over one year. We’re talking over one to three years.

  “But when there’s an opportunity to win a trophy, for every player it’s massive.

  “I have to count but there are not so many players in our team, in our squad who have won the FA Cup. The FA Cup is huge for everyone in the world.

  “You can have won the Champions League, you can have won so many titles, but when you have the opportunity to win the FA Cup, it goes all over the world, global-wide, a huge reputation.

  “I know from the Netherlands how big the FA Cup is, so we have the opportunity to win that.

  “We are also realistic (that) it’s not going to be easy but I can assure you one thing: we will give everything that’s in our power to get the cup.”

• I’ll stay at Newcastle as long as I’m wanted – Eddie Howe

  Eddie Howe does not want to be anywhere but Newcastle as he plots a route to lasting success after delivering Champions League football at the end of his first full season at the helm.

  The 45-year-old will spend the summer working with the club’s owners and sporting director Dan Ashworth to bolster a squad already enhanced by spending in excess of £250million for the challenges which lie ahead.

  In doing so he will have to make a series of tough decisions, but not about his own situation.

  Asked if his long-term future lies at St James’ Park, Howe said: “Very much so, there is no other thought in my mind.

  “For as long as I’m wanted, Newcastle is where I want to be. I’m hugely excited about next season and hopefully beyond.”

  Howe has been linked repeatedly with the England job in recent years and his early success on Tyneside after his sterling work at Bournemouth has seen his reputation blossom.

  However, he is not a man to rest on his laurels and knows what lies ahead may prove even more difficult as he attempts to balance the demands of domestic and European football.

  He said: “It can be tougher [playing in Europe]. I don’t want to come across as negative or pessimistic in any way, or almost having that mindset going into next season. We need to go into next season full of positivity and full of what can be.

  “We want to compete, we want to try to win a trophy, so we are very, very ambitious to move things on, but the challenges will get harder and we have to be better.”

  Tyneside has been bathed in euphoria since Monday night’s 0-0 draw with Leicester ensured just a third Champions League campaign for the club and took the pressure off Sunday’s trip to Chelsea.

  However, while he is determined to make an impression among Europe’s elite, Howe has no intention of forgetting the bread and butter of the Premier League.

  He said: “I look at the Premier League as your first target, the foundation to your season, really, so we won’t be going away from all eyes on the Premier League, all eyes on making sure we start as well as we can and we try to be as consistent as we can.

  “We won’t be taken off course in terms of our focus. The Champions League will start later on. It’s the foundation that we’re looking at and that’s the Premier League.”

  If the quest for Europe was something of a pipe dream back in August, the desperation to end a trophy drought which dates back to 1969 remains after despite February’s Carabao Cup final defeat, and that will not be pushed into the background either.

  Howe said: “We won’t look at the domestic cups and sacrifice them for the Champions League. That’s not my mindset sitting here now.

  “We want to try to win a trophy and we came very close this year. We want to go one step further.”

• Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui feels second-placed Arsenal do not deserve criticism

  Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui insists it is unfair to label Arsenal as bottlers after their title challenge faltered.

  The Gunners will finish second behind Manchester City having topped the table for the majority of the season.

  They held an eight-point lead in March but dropped crucial points against Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton in the run-in before losing 4-1 at City in April.

  Arsenal’s defeats to Brighton and Nottingham Forest handed City a third straight title but, ahead of Wolves’ trip to the Emirates for Sunday’s Premier League finale, Lopetegui feels the Gunners do not deserve criticism for coming second.

  “Of course (they don’t). It’s an incredible league and in the end they lost to Manchester City in one of the last matches,” he said.

  “They have done fantastic work – you only have to look at the teams that finished below them, incredible teams.

  “So I praise Mikel (Arteta) for his fantastic work. I remember he had big problems when he arrived two years ago but they showed faith and belief in him and now they are collecting the rewards.

  “He’s improved the team and changed a lot of players and put a lot of quality on the pitch and produced fantastic answers.

  “Now they have an incredible project in front of them.

  “That’s the merit of Mikel – fantastic work. In the same way, it highlights the merit of the club and the sporting director because he wouldn’t be able to do what he’s done without the belief in him.

  “In football to believe in the mid term or long term is very difficult.

  “It’s generally always short term. I think they are reaping the rewards for that belief and I’m happy for them because the teams that show patience and work a lot for the future deserve to have success.”

  Lopetegui remains in talks with Wolves over his future having guided them to mid-table safety. He is looking for clarification on the amount of backing he will receive in the summer with financial fair play restricting the club’s spending power.

  He wants to revamp the squad with several expected to leave including Ruben Neves and the out-of-contract Joao Moutinho and Adama Traore but Lopetegui suggested Raul Jimenez still has a Wolves future.

  “Raul has another year on his contract with us and for me it’s not his last match with us. He’s our player,” he said.

  “Raul is our player and he’s under contract. I hope he continues with us.”