Rooney: Patience Will Pay Off

Wayne Rooney does not deny he would have wanted to return to action sooner but acknowledges Sir Alex was right in restricting him so far.

The England striker wanted to play as soon as August 26, against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. The manager, though, did not even bring him back for the Everton game last Saturday. Rooney admits his boss acted sensibly.

'I feel I could have played a few weeks ago so I'm a bit disappointed,' he told MUTV.

'It's probably for the best. I've been dying to play and I let the manager know if there was a chance of my playing, I thought I was ready.

'I think the manager and the physios have been a bit cautious and rightly so because of the long season.'

And of course the boot issue. I had said earlier that I believed his metatarsal fractures were down to his boots but Rooney disagrees.

'I know several ex-professionals have been saying it's down to my boots. But they don't know what the boots are like. The boots are fine. If you have a lad like Michael Duberry stamp on your foot, it is quite likely to break.'

OK, Duberry's size might be scorned at in an ideal world of a diet expert but what about Paulo Ferreira? His clumsy challenge really shouldn't have broken a twig, let alone a human foot. And I seem to recall that Jorge Andrade had not exactly demolished Rooney, that had also seemed a fairly average incident but resulted in a serious injury.

But lo! our worries must be shunted sideways now and welcome Rooney back to the fold. The team missed him, the stats will tell you as much so I'm looking forward to see him in action again.

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