Marcus Rashford instantly makes mark with hat-trick

Marcus Rashford hopes he has sent a message to Sam Allardyce and Jose Mourinho after scoring a hat-trick on his England Under-21 debut.
Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring his third goal of the game during England Under-21s' 6-1 win over the Norwegian counterparts (Picture: Nigel French/PA Wire).Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring his third goal of the game during England Under-21s' 6-1 win over the Norwegian counterparts (Picture: Nigel French/PA Wire).
Marcus Rashford celebrates scoring his third goal of the game during England Under-21s' 6-1 win over the Norwegian counterparts (Picture: Nigel French/PA Wire).

The Manchester United striker scored three in front of senior boss Allardyce to help the Young Lions to this rout of Norway at Colchester.

Rashford was left out of Allardyce’s first senior squad for their 1-0 win in Slovakia on Sunday after playing at Euro 2016 and scoring on his debut against Australia in May.

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But his goals, including a penalty to complete the treble, powered the Under-21s to within one win of qualifying for Euro 2017 and Rashford is hopeful Allardyce will have taken notice.

“It means a lot (that Allardyce was here). It’s the England seniors, there is a new manager and they are doing well. Everyone is working hard to get into that side, so it was important that he was here to see our development,” he said.

“It was a good debut to have. It was a strong performance from the boys. Norway played well, despite the score line. We worked hard for the whole 90 minutes and I think in the end we deserved the result.

“I’d say the penalty was my favourite, to be honest. It was the first penalty I have scored since I have been a professional.”

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The goals mean Rashford will head into the Manchester derby on Saturday on a high and he wants to use his performance as a reminder to United boss Mourinho.

He added: “That’s all you want to do as a young player, give your manager a decision about whether to play you. I’m just looking forward to it.”

England Under-21 manager Gareth Southgate was full of praise for Rashford and believes Allardyce will eventually have a selection headache ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Slovenia.

“What we saw all week (from Rashford) we saw [last night], so I wasn’t surprised in any way,” said Southgate.

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Nathaniel Chalobah, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Lewis Baker were also on target and England are now two points clear in Group Nine with a trip to Kazakhstan and a home game against Bosnia and Herzegovina at Walsall to come in October.