Ferguson Buoyed By Rooney Return

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says Wayne Rooney will start in the Champions League on Wednesday as he returned to action against Wigan.

Rooney played his first game since 16 October having returned from an ankle injury - it was also his first game since signing a new five-year contract.

His introduction was met with a mixed reception at Old Trafford, but Ferguson was pleased with the striker's return.

"That reception was good and it will settle him down," said Ferguson.

With the contract saga that eventually resulted in Rooney belatedly signing a new deal at Old Trafford fresh in the memory, it was no surprises that his return was met with both cheers and jeers.

Having initially said he wanted to leave United because the 'club lacked ambition' he surprisingly changed his mind and committed his long-term future to the club.

Injury prevented him from playing sooner but having recently returned from a training camp in the United States he came on as a 57th minute replacement for Federico Macheda.

The England striker tested Wigan keeper Ali Al Habsi with a header and also fired straight at the Latics man late on with United eventually winning 2-0 through goals from Patrice Evra and Javier Hernandez.

"That [return] has taken a lot of pressure off the boy," added Ferguson.

"It was a quiet comeback, he got involved in a few of the bits of interplay but in the main he just needed that 25 minutes or so.

"He will play a full 90 minutes against Rangers on Wednesday and that will help with his fitness."

Rooney is still without a goal in open play this season but assistant manager Mike Phelan said the United coaching team were happy with the 25-year-old's progress.

"It was built up to be his comeback and I think overall the crowd reception was very good," said Phelan.

"They showed that they want Wayne Rooney to play for Manchester United.

Phelan added: "We are pleased with his fitness and are waiting for him to respond in the way we know he can."

The victory against nine man Wigan sent United level top with Chelsea and Ferguson was delighted to see his side take advantage of defeats for Chelsea and Arsenal on Saturday.

"It has been a good day for us, no question of that," stated Ferguson.

"If you had said at the start of the day would you take being joint top of the league I would have said 'yes'.

"We know that come the second half of the season we will definitely get better and now we are joint top with Chelsea."