Volatile England striker Wayne Rooney was a conspicuous absence for Manchester United as the squad trained on Tuesday, but Sir Alex Ferguson is 'sure' that the striker will be fit for the Champions League quarter-final match against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. In addition to the badly bruised shin that kept him out of practice, Rooney is also having to navigate an FA disciplinary hearing after being charged with using offensive language by English football's governing body - he has been suspended for two matches after swearing at a camera during his side's win over West Ham United and is appealing the length of the sentence.
However, unless he's actually unfit, that's probably more bad news than good for the home side, who will be desperately hoping that Rooney is nowhere near his vicious best against them. And since the 24 year-old appears to thrive on some combination of anger and bloody-minded defiance, events of the past week are probably going to put him in exactly the right frame of mind for the game, at least as far as United are concerned.