Rooney’s Back
Times: Wayne Rooney, the Manchester United striker, has been declared fit to face his former club Everton tomorrow.
Rooney, who missed England’s victories in the European Championship qualifying matches with Israel and Russia, has not played since fracturing his foot in the draw with Reading on the opening day of the Barclays Premier League season.
His return could provide Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, with an embarrassment of riches, as Cristiano Ronaldo is also available after a three-match suspension.
The Portuguese, who was controversially dismissed at Portsmouth, is a certain starter at Goodison Park as United look to register their first away win of the campaign.
While Ferguson is yet to make a firm decision on Rooney, the England international will be in the United squad to face his former club and, if training ground impressions are anything to go by, should play some part.
“Wayne has trained very well and will travel,” Ferguson said. “Whether I start with him, put him on the bench or keep him for Sporting Lisbon on Wednesday is something I still have to decide.
“He is desperate to play but we will take medical advice from the doctor.”
Ferguson has no fears about the length of time it will take Rooney to ease himself back into the fray. After all, the 21-year-old announced his arrival at United with a stunning hat-trick on his debut against Fenerbahce three months after he broke his foot for the first time during Euro 2004.
The returns of Rooney and Ronaldo could hardly have come at a better time for United who, despite successive wins over Tottenham and Sunderland, have only scored three times, the second worst record in the Premier League.
Now though, with Carlos Tevez available as well following his long-haul trip to Melbourne in midweek, Ferguson is confident he has the firepower to fire a United charge up the table.
“We are a bit higgledy-piggledy in terms of team selection but for the first time, we have enough forward power to improve our chances of scoring,” Ferguson, who also has Louis Saha available, said.
It is not all good news for Ferguson, though, as John O’Shea is out for “a number of weeks”, having picked up a knee injury in the Czech Republic on Wednesday, while Darren Fletcher is also facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after being on the receiving end of a bad challenge by Patrick Vieira during the early stages of Scotland’s memorable win in France.
“Darren will be out for six weeks, which is a disappointment,” Ferguson said. “It was a really bad, nasty challenge.”
Ferguson is still bitter at the decision of referee Steve Bennett to send Ronaldo off at Fratton Park, though he is aware the Portuguese is going to have to learn not to retaliate in the face of intimidation from opponents.
“Ronaldo being back is a big plus,” he said. “You miss players who make a difference, who can change the pattern of a game and create opportunities for you.
“What happened at Portsmouth was unusual because he normally has a good temperament to handle that kind of thing. But there is no question some players will maybe try to provoke a reaction from him now.
“It is up to Ronaldo to control himself and to know what a good player he is. He is only helping other team by reacting to it.”
