​Watford star Deeney hails Man Utd striker Rashford for off-field work | OneFootball

Watford star Troy Deeney has lavished praise on Manchester United and England forward Marcus Rashford.

The 22-year-old has been at the forefront of a battle to help underprivileged children in the UK with free school meals.

It is a campaign he has waged since the summer, and it even got him the honour of winning an MBE.

Rashford has recently started sharing messages on social media from private citizens and local businesses who are happy to chip in however they can.

Deeney told talkSPORT: "I'm from that environment. Obviously free school meals was a massive part of what got me, my brothers and sisters through school up until an age where you start looking after yourself. For me that was like 13 or 14.

"I had to rely on help and you do. We all need help in some capacity. I think more importantly when you look at the new generation of footballer now that's coming through, you highlight Sterling and Rashford, but there's so many more now.

"So many people used to tarnish footballers with, and still do to an extent, with 'they are stupid, they are selfish, they are overpaid' and all these different things.

"It's finally nice to see people actually saying 'look at the human being behind that footballer'. We are all humans, we all have emotions and we all make mistakes.

"When you look at the way this is all going now, Marcus has pushed the envelope to where the government is going to have to do something.

"That is the most powerful thing you can see nowadays. Your social media following, your presence and your actions can actually dictate to what the government has to do.

"I tip my hat to him. Everyone at talkSPORT here is right behind him and anything we can all do to help him I'm sure we will do in our own capacity."