Wayne Rooney is expected to start his first match since Boxing Day
when Newcastle United arrive at Old Trafford on Saturday
afternoon.
The England international didnt feature at all in the Reds recent
clashes with West Ham or Birmingham City and played just 20 minutes
in the FA Cup at Villa Park last weekend.
Speculation surrounding Rooneys no-shows reached feverish heights
after the Cup match, with some media outlets suggesting the Reds
no.10 was being punished for going out on New Years Eve.
However, in todays programme notes, United boss Sir Alex reveals
it was a simple case of illness and injury.
There were a lot of rumours flying about as to why Wayne was not
in the starting line-up, Ferguson writes. The simple truth is
that Wayne missed the Birmingham game with sickness and we left him
behind when we went to West Ham because he had developed a bit of
an injury niggle.
He was about 90 per cent fit by the time of the Cup tie so I
judged he was best left on the bench. There was nothing sinister
behind his omission, just a boring injury story that is sometimes
not good enough to satisfy peoples desire for a conspiracy
theory!