Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has confirmed that striker Wayne Rooney will be available to face Newcastle on Wednesday, after missing The Red Devils’ 3-2 defeat to Blackburn in their last outing.

The England international was omitted from Ferguson’s starting XI after being deemed to be performing poorly in training, with an alcohol-fuelled Boxing Day night out reported in the British press.

Ferguson put Rooney’s absence down to minor injuries, but has confirmed that he will be back and ready to play in United’s trip to Tyneside.

“We're trying hard to get Rio Ferdinand for Wednesday and Ryan Giggs which would make a good difference to us,” the Scottish tactician told Sirius XM radio.

"Anderson should be better; he had 45 minutes on Saturday after four months out. There are no other ones to come back immediately. And Wayne Rooney will be available of course.

"We had a few training sessions which he missed. You've got to be fit to play in this league, you can't miss training sessions," he concluded.

Rooney’s return would be a major boost to United, and will put to bed rumours of a spat between Ferguson and his star player.

By Gareth McKnight

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