Rooney's record
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Sir Alex Ferguson admitted the hamstring injury which kept Wayne Rooney out of Saturday's draw at Stoke isn't serious, but was reluctant to pencil in a return date for the striker.
Rooney was among three players who suffered injuries in training on Friday, while the Reds' plans were further dented when Javier Hernandez sustained a dead leg after just three minutes at the Britannia Stadium.
"Jonny Evans got an ankle injury in training yesterday," Sir Alex told MUTV. "We had a nightmare of a training session - Evans, Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney all got injured. Jonny thought he'd be okay but in the warm-up it was no use. With Chicharito in your team he gives you that penetration and speed, that was a loss."
"It's difficult to say [how long Rooney will be out for]. It's not a serious hamstring injury but I don't think he'll be available for next week. I think he'll be out for more than a week."
Rooney, Carrick, Evans and Hernandez join a lengthy injury list which already includes Nemanja Vidic, Chris Smalling, Rafael, Tom Cleverley and Darron Gibson, although Rio Ferdinand and Danny Welbeck both returned to Premier League action against Stoke.
"We are Manchester United and we don’t like to make excuses but it is difficult to come to a place like Stoke with those types of players," admitted Patrice Evra. "We have many players who are not here tonight."
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Ferguson hails record-breaking Rooney
Sir Alex Ferguson saluted his two-goal match-winner Wayne Rooney, whose elevation to the status of highest-scoring Englishman in Champions League history was perfectly timed. With Manchester United being held by the stubborn and occasionally cynical Romanians of Otelul Galati, Ferguson needed something special to kickstart their Group C campaign after two draws. And, following a tactical switch, Rooney’s two second-half penalties moved him to 26 goals in Europe’s elite competition, above Paul Scholes (24). Rooney had an embarrassing penalty slip against Chelsea earlier this season but Ferguson, asked if he had considered relieving the forward of spot-kick duties, scoffed: "Why should a miss make a difference? He slipped. We played Rooney further upfield in the second half and that made the difference. I wasn’t so much concerned at half-time but we knew what we needed to say to the players because our possession wasn’t creating any penetration. I don’t think we were lucky at all, we were the better team. We dominated possession and improved in the second half through Nani, Rooney and Anderson. Those three players changed the game."Sir Alex told the media after the game he could understand why German referee Felix Brych sent off defender Nemanja Vidic during United's win but said the red card was "harsh". Meanwhile, the manager hailed this weekend's Manchester derby as the biggest in his 25 years at Old Trafford.
