Rooney surprisingly started last Wednesday's 3-2 second leg win against the Bundesliga leaders, but was removed after 53 minutes after appearing to suffer an injury to the same ankle which resulted in him hobbling away from the Allianz Arena after the first leg of the tie the previous week.That gave rise to concerns that Rooney's rapid return to action had exacerbated the problem, a fear hardly helped by his absence from the United team for last Sunday's goalless draw at Blackburn. The England international, though, attended a light, individually-tailored session at United's Carrington training base on Monday and is being carefully monitored by the club's medical staff, but the player is thought to be confident he will be fit enough to return for the trip to Eastlands to face Roberto Mancini's in-form Manchester City.
United will be further boosted by the news that Ryan Giggs, who appeared to strain his hamstring at Ewood Park, also expects to be fit for a game Ferguson's side must win if they are to have any hope of reeling in league leaders Chelsea, though captain Rio Ferdinand, victim of a groin injury in the same game, remains a doubt after undergoing a scan on the problem yesterday.
Should Rooney suffer a setback this week, Ferguson will once again turn to the much-maligned Dimitar Berbatov to lead his line despite. It was suggested yesterday that the Scot may be prepared to draw a close to the £30.75 million signing's Old Trafford career this summer as he seeks to rebuild his side, but the Bulgarian international's agent, Emil Danchev has insisted his client's future remains very much at Old Trafford.
"There is no objective reason for his transfer other than these media attacks," said Danchev. "I neither know of any interest from any other club, nor has Manchester United said anything in that sense.
"Sir Alex has already made his opinion known on this issue. I do not think that he has to re-affirm his confidence in Mitko [Berbatov] every other day. I prefer to trust Ferguson."
No comments:
Post a Comment