I was right to drop Wayne Rooney, says Sir Alex Ferguson

Grin and bear it: Wayne Rooney in training today ahead of tomorrow's Champions League clash with Rangers at Old Trafford after missing Saturday's draw at Everton

Andrew Hodgson

11 April 2012

Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that Wayne Rooney will return to the starting line-up for Manchester United's Champions League match with Rangers at Old Trafford tomorrow.

The United manager insisted he had no regrets about leaving the striker out of Saturday's match at Everton despite the fact that his team surrendered a 3-1 lead in the dying minutes of the game at Goodison Park.

After the match Ferguson said Rooney, who has been accused of cheating on his wife with a prostitute, was left out because the United manager was worried about the abuse he would receive from opposing fans.

But subsequent reports have suggested the 24-year-old was dropped to teach him a lesson, something Ferguson strenuously denied today.

Asked if he had any regrets, Ferguson said: "No none at all.

"I left him out for the reasons I told you on Saturday and I am not going beyond that. I did the right thing.

"I have no need to clear it up.

"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.

"I have no concerns about playing him tomorrow at all. He is a terrific player. We expect a good performance from him and we look forward to that.

"I think he will be looking forward to it, all the players look forward to the European occasions."

Ferguson will have no worries tomorrow night with all but 3000 of the 77,000 inside the ground being behind Rooney. What is of more concern is the fragile nature of his defence that collapsed at Everton.

Rio Ferdinand is expected to make his first appearance since injuring his knee while training before the start of the World Cup in South Africa.

Ferguson added: "I think it has been a lack of concentration on our part. The defence was very good until the last few minutes. It was not frailty, it was a lack of concentration. Rio has been training very well and is desperate for games. Everyone is fit apart from Michael Carrick."

Ferguson admitted that facing his old club also gave the match added spice. "I look forward to games against Rangers, it does put a bit of focus on me with being Scottish," he said.

"Every season we have a motivation to get to the final of the Champions League and we were disappointed to lose to Bayern Munich but we have the same squad."

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I was right to drop Wayne Rooney, says Sir Alex Ferguson

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