Wayne Rooney is said to have been surprised by some
of Sir Alex Ferguson's statements about the striker's fitness.
Photograph: Lindsey Parnaby/EPA
Wayne Rooney has not given up hope of
being involved in Manchester United's potentially
season-defining game at Sunderland on Sunday. Rooney, once again,
is ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation and refusing to accept
he has no chance of being involved in a match that could go a long
way to determining whether the championship trophy stays at Old
Trafford or returns to Chelsea.
While Sir Alex Ferguson said at the weekend that Rooney would be
missing for two or three weeks with a groin strain, the player has
a more optimistic timescale after several days of intensive
treatment. Rooney has strained the abductor muscle at the top of
his leg, but the Premier League's leading scorer is
encouraged by the fact that he is a quick healer.
United's doctors have given him an outside chance of playing at
Sunderland and Rooney will almost certainly be available for the
home game against Stoke City the following weekend. He is said to
be surprised by some of the manager's public statements.
The last time Ferguson said Rooney would be out for up to three
weeks, after he had damaged an ankle in the first leg of the
Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, the striker
played in the return leg the next week. He lasted 55 minutes and
the gamble of playing him has led to concerns, predominantly at the
Football Association, that the fitness of England's most
accomplished striker is being risked with a World Cup looming.
At Old Trafford, however, a fourth successive league title is at
stake and the club will leave it as late as possible before
deciding whether Rooney has to be ruled out of the trip to the
north-east. The player himself has no qualms about the way his
initial injury has been handled and has told associates that he is
pleased with the support and expertise he has received from the
club's medical staff.
United are a point behind Chelsea going into the penultimate
weekend of the season, but Carlo Ancelotti's side have the more
difficult game on Sunday against Liverpool, who are still chasing
the fourth Champions League qualification place. Chelsea may need
to win because any other result would mean United going on to the
pitch at Sunderland knowing that six points from their final two
games would win them a record 19th championship.
Rooney, the Professional Footballers' Association's newly
crowned player of the year, said: "I'm disappointed to have missed
a couple of games over the last few weeks. It's difficult knowing
you can't influence the game. But if there's any consolation I'll
probably be fresher for the World Cup, which will be good for
me."
