Sir Alex Ferguson hopeful over fitness of Manchester United duo Wayne Rooney and Nani ahead of Chelsea clash

The Scot revealed Ashley Young could also make his return from injury at Stamford Bridge, while Ben Amos is set to deputise once again in goal with David de Gea injured

1 Feb 2012 11:24:00

By Ross Jackson

More On :  Chelsea FC, Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, Ben Amos, Nani, Ashley Young
FA Cup: Wayne Rooney, Manchester City v Manchester United
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Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful attacking duo Wayne Rooney and Nani will be available for selection for Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea this Sunday.

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The pair have missed United’s last two games - the 2-1 FA Cup exit at the hands of Liverpool and their 2-0 win over Stoke on Tuesday.

However, Ferguson is optimistic that Rooney and Nani could be available for their crucial trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend, as well as long-term absentee Ashley Young.

Ferguson told MUTV: "We're hopeful Wayne Rooney, Nani and possibly Ashley Young will be fit for Sunday.”

The United boss is also waiting on the fitness of goalkeepers Anders Lindegaard and David De Gea, who were both injured in the run up to United’s victory at Old Trafford against Tony Pulis' side, with 21-year-old Ben Amos likely to once again deputise.

He continued: "Anders got injured in training and then David got injured at the end of training, so we had a right nightmare there.

"Ben Amos didn't have a lot to do but he was confident and he was composed. I'm pleased with that."

The victory over Stoke took United to 54 points for the season, level with rivals City at the summit of the table, but Ferguson refused to get carried away, insisting there was still a long way to go in the title race.

"It's still early doors [in terms of the title race],” he added.

“It's only the last day in January. I always say that March is a very important month, as well as the beginning of April. We play Manchester City in April, for instance."

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England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.

Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.

"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.

"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."

"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."

Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
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