Marcus Rashford says England must ‘fight for each other’ amid fierce competition for starting places

Marcus Rashford says England have to “fight for each other” in the same way as players fight for club teammates, as Thomas Tuchel tries to create a brotherhood spirit within the camp.

Rashford, who has been on loan at Barcelona this season, is in competition with Anthony Gordon – who has recently been unveiled as a new Barca signing – for a place in the England starting line-up.

The Manchester United player said he relishes competing at the “pinnacle” of football and having that rivalry between teammates.

“We’re one team and we have to fight for each other in the exact same way that you fight for your club teams,” the forward, now at his fifth major tournament, said. “That’s the norm now.

“We understand it’s difficult because everybody wants to play and a lot of players deserve to play. At some point, players are going to be disappointed, but it’s about how you handle it.”

Rashford also called for Thomas Tuchel’s side to bring an unrelenting intensity that Ghana “can’t live with” as they look ahead to their next Group L game.

After a 4-2 win opening win over Croatia England can book their place in the World Cup knockout stages with a game to spare should they beat Ghana.

Rashford, a substitute against Croatia, scored the fourth goal and said England need to build on that performance.

He told the FA: “I think we have to bring an intensity that they can’t live with and we try and stick to that. If we can play at that level, it can win you games.

“The one thing we can predict is how we conduct ourselves over 90 minutes or 120 minutes, so I think we just have to focus on that as players. We just have to keep pushing ourselves. We’re definitely capable.”

England would also head into Saturday’s final Group L game against Panama as pool winners should the central American nation fail to beat Croatia later on Tuesday.

Rashford sat out an in-house friendly after feeling some discomfort at the end of the Croatia game, but returned to training with the group on Saturday following the team’s day off.