Marcus Rashford admits he ‘overslept’ and missed Man United meeting before being dropped at Wolves

Marcus Rashford was dropped by Erik ten Hag for being late for a team meeting, and then climbed off the bench to fire Manchester United to victory over Wolves at Molineux.

Rashford, who claimed his 11th goal of the season to give United a 1-0 win, accepted the punishment from his manager after revealing he had overslept.

‘Obviously it’s the rules,’ said the England star. ‘It’s a mistake that can happen.

‘I was disappointed not to start but I understand the decision. I was happy we managed to win the game anyway, so we can draw a line under it. I was late for a meeting – I overslept.’

Ten Hag was satisfied with Rashford’s response having confirmed before kick-off that his absence was due to ‘internal disciplinary’ reasons.

‘Everyone has to match the standards and the rules, so again there have to be consequences,’ said the United boss. ‘On the pitch there have to be consequences and I think he gave the right answer.

‘I was not satisfied with the performance in the first half. We had good chances to score a goal. We created them and we have to be more clinical in front of goal. We know Rashy can score the goals and he did that when he came on.’

The Dutchman has imposed a stricter code of conduct on his players since taking over in the summer. Alejandro Garnacho – who replaced Rashford on Saturday before making way for him at half-time – did not play on United’s summer tour of Bangkok and Australia after it emerged that he was twice late for team meetings.

In October, Cristiano Ronaldo was axed from the squad and fined after he refused to come on as a late substitute in the win over Tottenham and then walked out of Old Trafford before full-time.

Asked about the new rules, Ten Hag added: ‘So it has to be. When you are out of the pitch and you miss the rules and standards, it will flow onto the pitch.’

Defender Luke Shaw hinted that discipline was not always quite as strict under Ten Hag’s predecessors Ralf Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as he backed the manager’s decision to bench Rashford.

‘At a top club like this it has to be like that,’ said Shaw, who played on the left side of central defence for the second game in a row.

‘I think that people can’t do whatever they want, and maybe that’s been part of the problem in the past with people getting away with silly little things.

‘The manager takes all of that into consideration. Like you’ve seen today, if you’re not keeping the standards high then you won’t play.

‘I think he (Rashford) is in a really good way at the moment. He’s extremely confident, very positive, very happy and it’s nice to see it.

‘Everyone knows the quality that he’s got. He’s world class and he could be one of the best in the world if he keeps going. Hopefully he does that.’

Former United favourites Paul Scholes and Rio Ferdinand, working as pundits for BT Sport, also sided with Ten Hag over his treatment of Rashford.

‘He’s jeopardising his own form by being stupid, or whatever he’s done,’ said Scholes before kick-off. ‘I hope it doesn’t jeopardise the next six months of his season.’

Ferdinand added: ‘It’s disappointing. When you come here as a fan you want to see your best players playing.

‘At the same time, you’re pleased the manager is keeping to his principles where if someone does something wrong, they get punished for it.’