Edwards expects Luton will face a 'hungry' Marcus Rashford after United striker's red card at Copenhagen

Luton manager Rob Edwards is expecting to come up against a ‘hungry’ striker in Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford when the Hatters head to Old Trafford this afternoon.

The 26-year-old had a terrific season last year, scoring 34 goals in 63 appearances for club and country, but has struggled to repeat such feats this term.

He has only found the net twice in 19 outings so far, while the England international was then harshly dismissed after a VAR call in his side’s 4-3 defeat to Copenhagen in the Champions League on Wednesday evening.

Rashford also hit the headlines for going out to celebrate his birthday following the 3-0 Manchester derby defeat recently, behaviour described as 'unacceptable' by boss Erik ten Hag.

Despite that, Edwards is expecting to face a player who, when on his day, can be unstoppable, saying: “I think he’s in really good form.

"We’ve got to expect the best Marcus Rashford, that’s certainly what we’ve prepared for.

"I thought he looked hungry the other night, I thought the sending off was harsh, I get why it was given, and I think he’ll be hungry to show what he can do."

United have a number of injury concerns going into the game, missing Jonny Evans, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw, Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez and Amad to name five.

However, they still have £72m summer signing Rasmus Hojlund, who has five goals in the Champions League, but none in eight top flight outings this term, plus Portuguese star Bruno Fernandes, along with Antony and Mason Mount, the pair costing almost £150m between them.

Discussing the kind of weapons United have in their arsenal, Edwards added: “They can build and control a game in slightly different shapes.

"They’ll have a real forward threat, Hojlund will be running beyond, the eights will be running beyond, you think about Bruno Fernandes’ goal against Burnley for example, they got their forward pass and the timing of that run on that back-line, so we’ve got to be aware of that.

"They’ve got dribblers, they’ve got people who can cross the ball, cut-backs, they’ll have numbers in the box, so we’ll have to defend very, very well as a team.

"I thought the other night their attitude to run and to work was very, very good, so we’re expecting the best of them.

"There’s lots for them to think about, they’ll have a lot of shots from outside the box, whether that’s Marcus Rashford, Fernandes, (Christian) Eriksen, take your pick.

"So there’s lots of different threats, but we dealt with that well on Sunday against a team (Liverpool) with loads of good individuals as well, so I’m looking for similarities in terms of how we defend.

“We’re looking forward to it, they’ve got world class players, so we know how difficult it’s going to be.”