England forward Marcus Rashford has reiterated calls for the "mad" football calendar to be reconsidered by authorities.
The Manchester United talisman is expected to make his 62nd and 63rd appearances of the season when England round off a gruelling campaign, which included a winter World Cup, with Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia.
The Premier League clubs in Europe, including United, played almost every midweek in the first half of the season to accommodate the tournament in Qatar, and Rashford believes there should be more breaks in the schedule to allow players to recuperate.
Asked if the calendar needed a rethink, Rashford said: "To be honest, that is evident. It is mad that we are playing at club level against teams playing one game a week and we are playing three a week from November until we get knocked out of the Europa League.
“It is difficult and we are used to it but I don't think it's right. I am not the one who has to have the answers. If one team is playing 60 games a season and another is playing 38 there has to be some time to recover for the team playing 20 extra games."
But Rashford does not believe it should be down to the players to make a stand or consistently speak out against the schedule.
"The players are going to push ourselves to the absolute limits," he added ahead of the announcement of next season's fixtures tomorrow morning. "It is nothing new, it is not a complaint or a dig, I am just giving my honest opinion that I don’t think it is correct.
“We need to be given more time to recover between different games and at different stages of the season, as well. I don’t think it is down to the players, we shouldn’t have to speak out about something we're not in control of. We're not going to make the final decision."
England's Manchester City contingent of John Stones, Kyle Walker, Kalvin Phillips, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden were set to report to St. George's Park last night after being given extra time off to celebrate clinching the treble in Saturday's Champions League Final - although they are unlikely to play any part in Malta on Friday night.
Rashford, a Mancunian from the red half of the city, admitted it was unpleasant watching City make history but believes their success is ultimately good for England.
"It is not nice but it is football, the best team that has consistently playing the best football is going to win the most trophies," he said. "They have managed to win three this year and well done to them and we just move on now. It is up to the rest of us to catch them up.
"It's 100 per cent extra motivation and I'll just say congratulations. It is a massive positive [for England], we have got players that are experienced on massive occasions and it is only going to help us as a nation to hopefully get over the line in a major tournament."
