Rooney out, trio to be assessed for United

Alex Ferguson intends to ignore the demands of Wayne Rooney to play in Manchester United’s clash with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

Rooney believes he is fit but Ferguson wants to give his star striker more rest, which could be good news for Fabio Capello, who is due to name his England squad on Monday.

The fitness of Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Anderson will be assessed before Ferguson finalises the line-up that will look to register United’s first Barclays Premier League away win of the season.

Team (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Amos, Rafael, Neville, O’Shea, Brown, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Smalling, Evra, Nani, Fletcher, Anderson, Carrick, Gibson, Park, Bebe, Berbatov, Owen, Hernandez, Macheda.