Rosenior has Ronaldo in his sights

But, back to tomorrow's opponent, Ronaldo, who will be equally daunting but more familiar. "To be honest I look up to him and it will be a joy to play against him again," said Rosenior. "He's got ridiculous talent, I don't know how he manages to do some of the things that he does with the ball, things I have never seen before."

Rosenior's innate ability has more obvious origins. As the son of Leroy, who enjoyed two spells at Fulham in the eighties, there was an inevitability about his choice of career. Though Rosenior insists that he felt no pressure to follow his father's path. "He's always there for advice but he's never gone out of his way to tell me what to do because at the end of the day he just wants the best for me," he said.

In Fact, in more recent times, son has been more likely to help father. Last year Rosenior joined Torquay on loan, where his dad is manager. It was a period that coincided with Torquay winning promotion to League One, prompting the player to speak with pride about his father's achievements. He does, though, believe that his own passion for football was too much for his father at times.

He said: "When you play football you need a break from it as well, and I think I wore my dad out sometimes," he said. "He would come in and all I would do is talk to him about football."

Now, like then, all Rosenior wants to do is play football. But, for a five-month period he was prevented from doing so as Fulham sought to resolve a bitter contract dispute with former club Bristol City. A fee of £55,000 was agreed through a tribunal, though the circumstances surrounding his departure have not been forgotten in some parts.

He said: "People say, 'Why did you leave Bristol in such a way?' At the end of the day I'm playing in the Premiership now at the age of 20 and I don't think that anyone can argue with that."

Rosenior, though, has needed to be patient at Fulham. His debut did not arrive until more than a year after he joined the club, though his desire to play was obvious to Chris Coleman.

"He knocked on my door preseason and asked me what he had to do to get in the first team," said the Fulham manager. "I told him he needed to brush up on his choice of pass and sometimes he tries too hard so he needed to calm down a little bit. Everything I asked him to do he went away and did - I've had to put him in the team. He's been terrific."

Despite Rosenior's burgeoning presence on the right flank he has also experienced his share of disappointments this season. A sending off on his full debut against Boston in the Carling Cup was not the most auspicious of starts, while an own goal at Southampton ultimately cost Fulham three valuable points.

It is, though, a measure of his character that he uses such experiences to his benefit, and also goes some way to explaining why he is not fazed by the prospect of Ronaldo charging towards him tomorrow.

"If you actually thought it's Ronaldo running at you it would be 100 times worse," said Rosenior.

"You have just got to concentrate on the ball and not watch his body movements or step overs because if you do, he will be past you in a flash."

Fulham are again without injured duo Ian Pearce and Mark Pembridge at Old Trafford, where a minibus to transport disabled supporters will make its maiden journey. Fulham staff and supporters raised more than £38,000 towards the purchase of the vehicle.