Wayne just one of the boys, claims Alex

MANCHESTER UNITED wonder-boy Wayne Rooney will not receive any special treatment from Alex Ferguson despite his sensational start to life at Old Trafford.

Ferguson has handled scores of promising young players down the years, right back to his time at Aberdeen and his methods often provide the template other managers try to copy.

And while even Ferguson would struggle to recollect a teenager who generated as many headlines as Rooney has with his exploits for England and United over the last four months, the Scot will not be changing his philosophy.

“I don’t anticipate having a harder time managing the expectation around Wayne than anyone else I have had at the club,” said the United boss.

The wily Ferguson’s understated reaction to the 18-year-old’s stunning debut hat-trick against Fenerbahce comes from a need to dampen down the spiral of publicity surrounding the former Everton star, who controversially quit Goodison Park in a £27million deal just before the transfer window closed in August.

Just as he meticulously guided the likes of Ryan Giggs, David Beckham and Paul Scholes through the early stages of their careers, Ferguson will ensure Rooney and fellow talented teenager Cristiano Ronaldo are allowed to develop at their own pace, which could mean the England man drops to the bench for Sunday’s Premiership encounter with Middlesbrough.

But even Ferguson was forced to admit Rooney’s performance on Tuesday night was something special.

“It was a marvellous feat,” he said.

“You have to play it in the context of how many hat-tricks are scored in total during a season.

“But the main thing now is to let the boy enjoy his football.

“There are a lot of young lads at the club in his age group like Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Fletcher, David Bellion and John O’Shea and hopefully he can grow up with them and be with them for a long time to come.”

If Ferguson does decide to take Rooney out of the firing line tomorrow, top scorer Alan Smith will be the man to step in after sitting out the last three games.

While Louis Saha has trained all week, the French international’s recovery from a knee injury has not quite come quick enough for him to come into consideration for the encounter with Steve McClaren’s men.

Instead, the former Fulham striker has been pencilled in for a reserve team outing, either against Burnley at Altrincham on Monday or Manchester City on October 12.

Aside from the debate over who should partner Ruud van Nistelrooy up front, Ferguson also has a midfield puzzle to solve.

Worried expressions on the faces of United fans on Tuesday when they discovered the midfield would consist of Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson were quickly replaced by smiles of satisfaction as the trio played a full part in the 6-2 win.

Now Ferguson must decide which of the trio have done enough to retain their place.

With Paul Scholes still out with a thigh strain, there should be at least one vacancy, even though Ronaldo and skipper Roy Keane are ready to return.