Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says he has no worries playing Wayne Rooney in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Rangers.
Ferguson left the striker for Saturday’s match at Everton, claiming he wanted to protect the player from abuse by fans at his former club.
“I’ve no regrets about leaving him out. I did the right thing,” said Ferguson.
“He’s a terrific player and he’ll be looking forward to tomorrow. We expect a good performance from him”.
However, the United boss insists Rooney was not in his bad books: “I have no need to clear it up. I explained the reasons on Saturday. There is nothing beyond that.
“I don’t know if tomorrow will inspire him. He has a lot of experience behind him. But I do know scoring for England last week will have given him a boost.”
Rooney was left out of the squad for Saturday’s match – which saw United concede two injury-time goals to draw 3-3 with Everton – following newspaper stories about his private life.
Rooney is likely to start on Tuesday as United look to respond to the disappointment of Saturday’s draw.
Ferguson may also able to call upon the services of defender and captain Rio Ferdinand, who has yet to feature this season after suffering a knee ligament injury while training with England prior to this summer’s World Cup.
“It’s not frailty, it’s been a lack of concentration in our defending,” admitted Ferguson when quizzed about his side’s defensive lapses. “Until the last few moments on Saturday we were very good.
“Rio has trained last few weeks and he needs to play games now.”
