Rooney Out But Owen And Van der Sar Return

Wayne Rooney has been ruled out of Bolton’s visit to Old Trafford on Saturday but Edwin van der Sar and Michael Owen will both be involved.

Sir Alex confirmed on Friday morning that Rooney will miss the fixture with a calf injury sustained on international duty.

“Rooney’s definitely out… but I certainly hope he’ll be fit for Liverpool [next Sunday]. Because it’s a calf strain we know how difficult these things can be.”

That disappointment is offset by Michael Owen’s recovery from a groin strain and van der Sar’s return between the posts.

“Edwin’s fit and he will play,” Sir Alex said. “He played for the Reserves about 10 days ago and came through that fine – it was a confidence booster. He’s trained for a while now but because it was a hand injury, you don’t take any chances.”

United’s only other concern surrounds Darren Fletcher. The midfielder picked up an injury while training with Scotland in the recent international break.

“I think everyone else is okay,” the manager said. ”There are one or two bumps and bruises but nothing serious. And after the disappointment of Sunderland, this is an important game for us.”

Hargreaves making good progress

Owen Hargreaves is edging ever closer to making his United return.

The 28-year-old hasn’t played for the Reds since September 2008 and has since undergone surgery on both knees.

Most of Hargreaves’ rehabilitation work was done in the United States, although the England international returned to Manchester late last month to rejoin his team-mates.

Sir Alex has been impressed with the midfielder’s progress and says fans can expect to see him in a United shirt in the near future.

“Owen’s doing a lot of good work now and we’re pleased with that.

“As I said when he came back to Manchester, it’s not something we need to rush. Because he’s been out for a year, we monitor it a bit more closely.

“But he’s giving us good signs and he should be back at the first-team level three weeks from now, easily.”

ManUtd : Obertan and Rafa Returns

Reserves assistant manager Warren Joyce saved special praise for Rafael and Gabriel Obertan, after the pair emerged unscathed from their first competitive outing of the season.

The pair both completed 45 minutes of the Reserves’ 3-0 Manchester Senior Cup win over Oldham on Monday, and Joyce was quick to stress that they were only substituted to adhere to a carefully considered reintroduction programme.

“The boys were coming back from injuries and they were only planned to play 45 minutes,” Joyce told MUTV .”Rafa’s worked really hard to get his fitness levels back. He’s an enthusiastic, bubbly character and I thought his fitness levels looked good tonight.”

Everyone’s eyes, however, were focused on how French winger Obertan would fare in his first game in a United shirt.

“Obertan, some of the quality touches and his movement were excellent, and his fitness levels looked really good as well,” added Joyce. ”I think (physio) John Davin’s shown him one or two tricks during his rehab! Some of his touches were excellent.

“He was inventive, he received it well and his movement off the ball was good as well, so he can be very pleased.

“He’s been desperate to get that 45 minutes under his belt, he’s been desperate to do even more training than he’s done.”
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Source: http://www.manutd.com/default.sps?pagegid={F9E570E6-407E-44BC-800F-4A3110258114}&redirectorid=news_story&newsid=6641201