Lean-mean-fighting-machine Rooney set for explosive comeback

London: Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will return to action as a lean, mean scoring machine after he lost almost half a stone during his American boot camp visit.

Rooney, 25, arrived back in Britain at the weekend after a week`s rehabilitation for his ankle injury at Nike`s Portland headquarters. He looked far trimmer than last season after a five-day programme devised by his club`s fitness experts."It`s the talk of the place how hard Wayne was worked out there. He was far from being overweight but he is now nicely tuned up again after the extended lay-off and injury problems," a United source said. "The gaffer and his staff knew exactly what they were doing and now they are expecting it to pay rich rewards," the source added. Rooney, who has just signed a new 250,000 pound-a-week contract, trained twice a day over the course of two days. He then stepped up to three sessions for the remainder of his stay. Boss Alex Ferguson hopes that Rooney can return for Saturday`s clash with Wigan before next week`s Champions League trip to Rangers. Rooney has not played since the draw at Bolton at the end of September apart from an appearance as a sub four weeks ago. Bureau Report