Speaking in his press conference to preview our return to action at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night, the boss was asked about Marcus Rashford getting off the mark for Aston Villa with two goals in their 3-0 Emirates FA Cup quarter-final win at Preston North End.

With a number of Reds currently out on loan, and gaining plenty of attention, including Antony, who is performing well for Real Betis, Ruben explained how it is very much a positive that this is the case.

In terms of the team, we saw the training footage and certain players were returning, will they be available for match tomorrow?

“Luke [Shaw] is not ready yet we are starting doing some drills with the team. But we are getting Luke, Mason [Mount] is feeling better, he was already on the bench in the last game. I think Kobbie [Mainoo] is almost returning also but not ready for this game. Jonny Evans is recovering, Ayden [Heaven] is recovering. Who else? Licha [Lisandro Martinez] is out, as you know, I think that’s it. [Harry] Maguire is also ready to go to the game. [Leny] Yoro, yes.”

With Ayden, obviously there was a lot of concern when he went down. How severe does that look?

“It was not so serious, so he is recovering. He is not ready to play but he is going to return this season for sure.”

You went into the break probably on the best little run that you have had. Does that mean you can pick up where you left off now that players are coming back? Are you more confident?

“I think that, yes, you can say that I am really confident. I feel the players are more confident, the energy is different. I also know this could change with results so we are focusing on maintaining the energy. We work on some things as have a lot to improve, even winning the games, we can acknowledge we have a lot to improve. But we are in a different moment, more confident and we are ready for the final two months of the season.”

What targets do you set for the rest of the season?

“I don’t know which place we are going to finish in but we are looking up and we want to win games. And, with this, we still have matches to finish in a different position. Like you said before, we are with more confidence so we are looking to win games and that is our focus at the moment.”

Just looking at the schedule, it’s obviously Forest tomorrow and then it’s Manchester City on Sunday. Lyon in the first leg, then Newcastle away and then the second leg against Lyon. So it’s a really busy schedule for you, with so much to still be achieved…

“It’s also really exciting, with really tough matches. We already had in the last weeks that kind of schedule with less players so it’s really important to have all the players available and for them to fight for us and to rotate. Different characteristics give us different opportunities to win football matches. It’s a very good moment in our season, we have at least three Premier League matches that are really tough but the team is prepared to face those games. Also the Europa League is a key point for us in the final run.”

Marcus Rashford has obviously said he’s getting better, he feels he’s playing better as well. From what you see from him are you impressed by what you’re seeing? Also, if he’s going to continue that improvement, what impact could that have on your thinking, when it comes to the summer?

“Like you said, we have a lot of things to play for and my focus is on my team, my players and Rashford is not my player at the moment. But everybody that performs well on loan is good news for our club. So we are happy with that.”