Rooney role play sparks classy United

A TYPICALLY absorbing, and uncompromising, meeting between these two Lancashire rivals offered a tale of three managers.

The primary combatants, Alex Ferguson and his former Manchester United player Paul Ince, emerged from the game with wildly differing views and emotions, particularly over United’s opening goal. But the third manager, watching in the stands, may have had more cause for satisfaction than either.

Fabio Capello, having been at nearby Wigan for the earlier kick-off, journeyed to Blackburn to examine the form of key England personnel ahead of the upcoming qualifying games with Kazakhstan and Belarus. In the case of Wayne Rooney, Capello would have left a content man.