Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is set to recall Wayne Rooney for the Premier League clash at Newcastle on Wednesday following the England striker’s surprise absence against Blackburn. Ferguson has revealed Rooney will be available after the forward did not even make the substitutes’ bench for the champions’ shock 3-2 defeat by relegation candidates Blackburn at Old Trafford on New Year’s Eve. It has been reported that Ferguson fined Rooney and United team-mates Jonny Evans and Darron Gibson, and forced them to train on their day off last week, after they were seen on a night out on Boxing Day. But Ferguson seems willing to hand Rooney a recall at St James’ Park, telling Sirius XM radio station on Monday: “Anderson should be better, he had 45 minutes on Saturday after four months out.
And Wayne Rooney will be available of course. “We had a few training sessions which he (Rooney) missed. You’ve got to be fit to play in this league, you can’t miss training sessions.” Several British newspapers reported that Rooney was punished for a below par training session on December 27 after a Boxing Day evening out with wife Coleen and Evans and Gibson against team orders. Rooney was fined approximately a week’s wages — £200,000 ($310,000) with Northern Irish international defender Evans and Republic of Ireland midfielder Gibson also fined, the reports said.
