Sir Alex Ferguson has ruled Wayne Rooney out of Manchester United’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie against Bayern Munich.
Rooney suffered an ankle injury towards the end of last week’s 2-1 defeat by Bayern in the first leg at the Allianz Arena, and Ferguson says he is not prepared to risk the striker.
Reports over the weekend had claimed that Rooney could take up a place on the bench for Bayern’s visit to Old Trafford on Wednesday night after making a quicker than expected recovery.
Those hopes have now been dashed, though, after Ferguson confirmed he would not be gambling on Rooney’s fitness.
Rooney did not take part in training with the rest of United’s squad on Tuesday and Ferguson says there is ‘no chance’ the England international will face Bayern.
When asked about Rooney initially, Ferguson said: “He’s got no chance.
“We’ve made some good progress with the lad, the medical team have done fantastic, but I’m not prepared to take a risk on a player who is not 100% fit.”
Ferguson then added: “The boy is making good progress. The medical team have done a fantastic job, but it is an ankle injury the same as any other ankle injury.
“You can’t take a risk with a player who is not 100%.
“I don’t think he will be on the bench although he might talk me into it, it is a difficult one.”