Ferguson believes Rooney’s thigh injury could be ‘blessing in disguise’

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson believes the thigh injury which Wayne Rooney suffered could actually prove to be a blessing in disguise for the striker.

London: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the thigh injury which Wayne Rooney suffered during last Saturday’s game against Fulham could actually prove to be a blessing in disguise for the striker, as it could help him regain full fitness.

Ferguson said Rooney must use the lay-off time to achieve full fitness before making a return in the starting eleven. Ferguson has conceded that the England forward is still to reach full fitness following his delayed return to pre-season training due to his involvement at Euro 2012. “I think this [injury] may be a blessing. The fact it’s a gash, not a ligament or muscle injury, means he can do a lot of work in the gymnasium. He will be able to do gym work. He was in the gym yesterday actually and we will continue that. The minute he starts running, that will also involve the football side of it too,” a daily quoted Ferguson, as saying. “He wasn’t as fit [as the other players]. He said himself he needs a few games and I wanted to play Van Persie at the start at Old Trafford against Fulham,” he added. “I knew he wasn’t 100 per cent fit either and I would rather have taken him off with 20 minutes to go, but I couldn’t really start the two of them and I wanted to start with Van Persie. Wayne is behind the rest. He’s not as advanced as [Shinji] Kagawa or the other midfield players,” he said. ANI