Rooney set for Fulham comeback

Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to unleash Wayne Rooney, seen here in Manchester in October 2007, on Fulham on Monday following the Manchester United striker's rapid recovery from an ankle injury.

Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to unleash Wayne Rooney on Fulham on Monday following the Manchester United striker's rapid recovery from an ankle injury.

England star Rooney has been sidelined for less than a month with the ankle injury suffered during a training session at United's Carrington training ground.

Initial fears that he could be sidelined until mid-December have proven to be unfounded, however, and Ferguson admits that Rooney is on course to re-ignite his deadly partnership with Carlos Tevez against Premiership strugglers Fulham.

Ferguson said: "Wayne Rooney is training and I expect him to be fit for Monday. Wayne did all his running last week and his endurance work was fine. He has trained in the football and he has a couple of days to be ready for Fulham and I think he will be ready.

"He hasn't even been out for a month, but his fitness levels are good and it won't take him long to get back to his best. He scored in something like seven games in a row before the injury, so hopefully he can get back to that kind of form.

"His combination with Carlos Tevez was looking good, but you miss these players when they are out. You cope, but you still miss them."

Ferguson is set to be canvassed by the Football Association (FA) for his views on the search for a successor to Steve McClaren as the England manager.

The Scot admits he has yet to speak to FA officials, but he has warned the English game's bosses that finding the right man to take the country forward will not be easy.

Ferguson said: "The FA haven't spoken to me and I don't know if they will, but I would obviously try to help the situation. There will be plenty of people with their opinions who have experience of what is needed for the job.

"That applies to Scotland and England, but it is not easy to get international managers. That was shown with Alex McLeish. Alex is a young man and I spoke to him a couple of times about it, but despite Scotland doing so well, he had the urge to get that daily involvement again.

"If you are young, there is an inclination to go back into club football, particularly if you are successful. It's not an easy job and I have said time and again that experience is important.

"But it is important for our game that England get the right manager to replace Steve and drive the game on.

"If Jose Mourinho wanted it, he'd be a consideration, but there are quite a few of them. If Arsene Wenger or myself said we wanted it, we'd be under consideration. It's about who wants the job first of all and who has the qualifications for it.

"It's not an easy selection process. It's difficult and you have to go through the procedure and just allow the FA to get on with it."