Rooney out of Spurs game

Wayne Rooney was absent from the Manchester United starting line-up as the Red Devils chased the victory over in-form Tottenham that would send them top of the Premier League.

Rooney is still struggling with the ankle injury he suffered against Bayern Munich and Alex Ferguson decided he was not worth the risk, leaving Dimitar Berbatov up front on his own.

Rio Ferdinand was also ruled out, whilst Owen Hargreaves was named on the bench to end an absence that stretches back to September 2008 when he finally gave in to chronic knee problems.

Aaron Lennon has not been out for quite that long but the England winger was also included among the substitutes by Harry Redknapp after recovering from a groin injury he suffered in December.

Spurs showed two changes to the side that beat Chelsea last weekend, Wilson Palacios and Ledley King both recalled as the Londoners chased a famous hat-trick after previously overcoming Arsenal.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Rafael Da Silva, Vidic, Jonathan Evans, Evra, Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, Valencia, Berbatov, Nani.

Subs: Kuszczak, Hargreaves, Brown, Carrick, O’Shea, Macheda, Gibson.

Tottenham: Gomes, Assou-Ekotto, Dawson, King, Bale, Bentley, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric, Defoe, Pavlyuchenko.

Subs: Alnwick, Kaboul, Lennon, Jenas, Crouch, Gudjohnsen, Bassong.

Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands)