AFTER ensuring a difficult week came to a successful conclusion with his match-winner against Slovakia, Marcus Rashford is hoping the last few days stand England’s players in good stead when they tackle next summer’s World Cup finals in Russia.

Rashford’s second-half strike at Wembley means England only have to beat either Slovenia or Lithuania in their final two qualifying matches to a guarantee in place in December’s World Cup draw.

Monday’s victory saw Gareth Southgate’s side overcome an early concession to maintain their unbeaten record in qualifying, with the England boss hailing his players’ composure and confidence despite going behind.

Their successfully rally was in marked contrast to the meek capitulation that saw England crash out of last year’s European Championships at the hands of Iceland, and came three days after the squad had been widely criticised for a lacklustre display in Malta.

Last week’s performance in Valetta led to a renewed bout of questioning about the commitment of England’s players, but having delivered a powerful response on the pitch at Wembley, Rashford is hoping a testing few days will help galvanise a group that is still in the early stages of its development.

“Everybody wants results, so it is difficult to please everyone,” said the Manchester United striker, who now boasts two goals from his 11 international outings. “If we get a result and we didn’t play well, somebody has bad things to say. But if we play well and don’t get a result, there are other bad things to say too.

“You have to get the right balance, but we’re young and provided we all stay together and work on relationships off the pitch, that will make us better on the pitch too. There are a lot of things going on in the background that will hopefully bring the best out of all of us.”

Rashford had to display some individual resolve on Monday as he refused to allow an early error that contributed to Slovakia’s goal to send him retreating into his shell.

Having dawdled in possession and failed to track back as Stanislav Lobotka scored a third-minute opener, Rashford could have hidden away in an attempt to avoid further errors.

Instead, he sought out possession at every opportunity, and while Martin Dubravka kept out a couple of his long-range shots, the Slovakian goalkeeper was beaten midway through the second half when Rashford arrowed a 25-yard strike into the bottom left-hand corner.

It was an excellent strike, but having proved his mettle when he scored within the first three minutes of his international debut in a friendly against Australia at the Stadium of Light, the teenage striker was never going to unduly worried by one mistake.

“That’s football,” he said. “You have your ups and you have your downs. I think the whole team reacted well, and it was great that we got the goal back late in the first half.

“The manager said to just stay calm at half-time and try to work on the things we had been working on in training over the week. I think that is what we all did, and we got the results from it.”

While Rashford was part of the squad that flopped so badly at last summer’s European Championships – even now, it seems ridiculous that Roy Hodgson left it so late to bring him off the bench against Iceland – he is not scarred by a succession of recent failures at the World Cup.

Indeed, while the recently-retired Wayne Rooney first experienced the World Cup stage in Germany in 2006, Rashford freely admits he has no recollections of that tournament.

Given that he does not turn 20 until the end of next month, he would only have been nine when England were losing on penalties to Portugal in Gelsenkirchen, and his first World Cup memories came four years later in South Africa.

“The first one that I properly watched when my football brain was more fully developed was 2010 when Frank Lampard scored against Germany,” he said. “That was when I started watching, to be honest. It was very recent.

“The last World Cup in Brazil, I think I was on holiday. I was in Dubai. I was watching all the games and following the whole World Cup – it was quite a chilled holiday. Me and my brothers are into that type of stuff if it is on.”

Four years on, and Rashford’s brothers could well be watching their sibling perform in Russia. The transformation in the striker’s career has been staggering, but with Jose Mourinho starting to give him a more senior role at Manchester United, the best could still be to come for both club and country.

“It’s not really affecting me, but it’s obviously a bit strange for my family and stuff,” said Rashford. “It’s something they’re getting used to, and I am having to get used to it as well.

“It’s a proud moment for everyone. It’s a special moment that I will keep with me for a long time, and my family have dreamed of it for as long as I have so it’s a proud moment for them too.”