Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford said there is a different energy at the club now and that he is feeling fully motivated after poor performances last season cast doubt about his future at Old Trafford.

Rashford scored his 100th goal for the club in Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League victory over West Ham United, becoming the first United player to hit that mark since Wayne Rooney in 2009.

His towering header saw him equal his league tally of four goals for the whole of last season in only 12 games. The 25-year-old scored only five goals in 32 matches last season.

“It’s a completely different energy around the club and the training ground,” Rashford told Sky Sports. “That puts me in a better headspace and I feel really motivated now.

“I was struggling at times with more mental things. It wasn’t really my own performance but other things off the pitch. That’s the biggest difference from last season.

“I get that it’s your job to speak about what happens on the pitch but for players, we have to get into the right headspace for every game.

“Too often last season, I wasn’t ... I wasn’t surprised by some of the stuff that was happening.”

Former United captain Gary Neville believes Rashford’s commendable work away from football started to have an impact on his performances on the pitch and that the time had come for change.

“It is stark to hear Rashford say I wasn’t in the right headspace going into a match,” Neville, a Sky Sports pundit, said. “There’s no doubt there was too much being put into his head off the pitch. Too much. Sometimes you have to simplify your life.

“He’s doing so much good off the pitch, it’s incredible what he’s achieving but there comes a point where your bread and butter is your football and I suspect people off the pitch who are close to him, who are probably just pulling him away a little bit from his core, which is his football. That’s where he’s talking about his head space. For me, he’s got that back.”

Neville continued: “There were people that thought he’d have to move away from Manchester United. I thought that would be a shame and hoped that the moment would come back where you’d see him confident again.

“There were moments when he’s running with real power and strength and flow… but there were times last year where he’d get in that position and he was hesitant and he’d pass it back and take the easy option.

“There were also moments last year, when Ronaldo was available, he’d pass it to him like he was subservient to him. I feel now he’s willing to take (responsibility) and then play him in when he needs to.”

Written with inputs from Reuters