Sir Alex conducted his weekly presser this morning, and he dismissed reports that Wayne Rooney would be fit for the game against bitter rivals Liverpool on Sunday. Rooney has been out for almost a month now, following a gashed leg he received in the league game vs. Fulham.
When asked about Wayne, the boss said “Everyone who was involved on Wednesday is available, I know there were reports in the paper about Rooney being possible, but that is not the case. He’s not far away, I think he may be fine for next week.” He continued “He’s doing a lot of great training and has been working hard. It’s just a matter of getting him into the full football training side of things, which he has done part of.”
Fergie also confirmed that Ashley Young will face another 2-3 weeks on the sidelines after he suffered from a bruised cartilage. The winger has featured for the first team just twice this season, this coupled with the sale of Park to QPR definitely leaves us short on the wings, the sooner he returns the better.
“Ashley Young has got a bruised cartilage – I think it’s going to take two or three weeks more for him. We’re just taking our time with that one. You can easily play with it and train but we’re not going down that road, we want to make sure he’s okay.
Sir Alex was then quizzed on Darren Fletcher’s return to the first-team fold, but conceded the Liverpool tie may be too much of an ask for the Scottish midfielder, he also added that Darren could be handed his first start since his illness in the home tie vs. Newcastle in the newly-named Capital One Cup.
“Darren made a start [to his comeback] on Wednesday which was great, he won’t start the match on Sunday but he’ll certainly play against Newcastle. I think that’s a perfect game for him to start back. Then we have the game against Tottenham next Saturday and he possibly could be involved in that, but it depends how he does on Wednesday.
“It’ll be his first full 90 minutes after 10 months out so it’ll be a big night for him. He’s handling the conditions at the moment and he looks fine as we saw the other night. It’s a matter of hoping the condition stays dormant. He’s handling his diet well and doing all the right things so hopefully he gets that break he needs.”
I’m thrilled to have Fletcher back in the mix again, he gives us that extra option in the centre of the park and he isn’t afraid to do the dirty work, I still think that it’ll take him at least a month to get back up to speed, but hopefully he’ll challenge for a spot in the starting XI for the big matches in the not too distant future.
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