Rooney struggles, Hargreaves to return
Friday, 16 October 2009 12:43Alex Ferguson has ruled Wayne Rooney out of Manchester United's Barclays Premier League encounter with Bolton at Old Trafford on Saturday, but he should be back in contention next week.
Rooney picked up a calf injury during England's World Cup qualifying defeat in the Ukraine last weekend.
And despite returning straight to United's Carrington training ground for treatment, the striker will not be fit to face the Trotters.
Ferguson does retain an outside hope that Rooney will be available for Wednesday's Champions League trip to CSKA Moscow, although a return for the key clash with Liverpool at Anfield on 25 October is more likely.
Meanwhile, Ferguson expects Owen Hargreaves to be making his first-team return in three weeks.
The Manchester United midfielder returned to Carrington last month.
He spent a year in the United States recovering from ground-breaking surgery on both knees, to combat a long-standing tendinitis problem.
Hargreaves was initially accompanied by his personal physiotherapist before care was transferred to the United medical staff.
The 28-year-old is progressing well. And though Ferguson is bound to be planning a low-key return on reserve team duty somewhere, the Scot feels Hargreaves will be available again at the start of next month.
'Owen is doing a lot of good work now,' he said.
'He is making great progress, which we are very pleased about.
'It is not a thing you have to rush because he has been out a year.
'We have to monitor it a bit more closely but he is giving us good signs.
'He should be back in the first-team level in three weeks from now, easily.'
In theory that would give Hargreaves a chance of being fit for the eagerly-awaited encounter with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 8 November.
It would seem unlikely Ferguson would pitch the former Bayern Munich star into such a high-profile occasion, so an outing immediately after the international break that follows is far more likely, particularly as United should have booked their place in the Champions League knock-out stages by then.
