Wayne Rooney to miss the derby

Sir Alex Ferguson is pleased with the strength of his squad, despite injury set-backs for Wayne Rooney and Owen Hargreaves.

Rooney, who signed a five-year contract after an intense few days of speculation at Old Trafford last week, is currently recovering from an ankle injury and has been told to rest. He suffered the injury in training on 18 October, so a three-week absence would have meant he was back in the days leading up to United's visit to Manchester City on Wednesday 10 November, but he has effectively been ruled out of that game now.

"Wayne's away at the moment, so there's no recovery," said the boss. "He did his remedial work before he went away, but thereafter we're happy that he's resting." Asked if the three-weeks prognosis still applied, Sir Alex added: "I think it may be longer."

Nevertheless, the form of Javier Hernandez has been a huge bonus in Rooney’s absence, and Sir Alex feels his squad is looking strong. “The only injuries to report are the ones we know about. Ryan [Giggs] should start training on Monday, I think he’s progressed quite well now. Michael Owen unfortunately picked up a hamstring injury in training. That’s disappointing for him and he’ll be out for four or five weeks. “Owen Hargreaves is still recovering from a long-term injury. I can’t see [him playing in the next few weeks]. He was making very good progress when he first came back, but it seems to have stalled a little bit and he is back with the physios now. But they’re the only injuries we have at the moment and we have quite a strong squad at the moment. We hope it stays that way.”

Source: manutd.com

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