Rooney remains a doubt

United sweating on striker's fitness ahead of Euro clash

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 7th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rooney remains a doubt

Rooney: Fitness race

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Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that Wayne Rooney faces a race against time to make Wednesday's crunch clash with AC Milan.

The Manchester United boss was unable to call upon his top scorer for Saturday's trip to Wolves, but saw his side prevail courtesy of a solitary effort from Paul Scholes.

United lacked their usual cutting edge at Molineux, though, and were a shade fortunate to emerge from the Midlands with maximum points.

The Red Devils will take a 3-2 advantage with them into their UEFA Champions League return date with Milan in midweek, but Ferguson admits they may be forced to secure continental progress without their talismanic striker.

"Wayne is very doubtful for Wednesday," said Ferguson, who has publicly aired his disappointment at seeing the 24-year-old play 86 minutes for England against Egypt in midweek.

"The Wembley pitch has killed him."

While United may be without Rooney against Milan, Scholes will be among those hoping to help carry the goalscoring responsibility.

Deserved

His effort against Wolves on Saturday was his 100th in the Premier League and Ferguson was full of praise for the veteran midfielder in the wake of another inspirational performance.

"Paul had an excellent game," Ferguson added.

"That is his 100th league goal for us, which is a great achievement. He is a marvellous player.

"I felt we played the best football and we deserved to win.

"It is another away game off the list and it is a good victory because we knew Wolves were going to fight.

"We've had many results like this over the years and it could be significant. We showed a great determination to win."