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Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney was absent from training on Tuesday morning and there is concern that he may miss his side's UEFA Champions League semi-final match versus Schalke 04. Speaking at a pre-match press conference, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had this to say about his number ten:
"He didn't train this morning. He has a tight hamstring so we left him today. We'll see what he's like tomorrow."
Source: www.manutd.com
It should be noted that Rooney has missed training before on the eve of a match prior to playing, however, there is speculation that he will sit out tomorrow night's match with Sunday's potential title-deciding tilt versus Chelsea FC on the manager's mind. After the loss at the Emirates to Arsenal FC this past Sunday, Fergie already hinted at changes; he specifically mentioned that Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, and Paul Scholes would be brought in for the match versus the German side.
With a two goal lead over Schalke after their first leg, the United boss may take a calculated gamble by resting several key players. This could potentially include several players who have logged heavy minutes during the run-in: Edwin van der Sar, Rio Ferdinand, Park Ji-sung, Javier 'Chicharito' Hernandez, and possibly others. It was just last year that United's season fell apart over a span of few days versus Bayern Munich in the Champions League and versus Chelsea in a league tie; it appears that experience has weighed heavily on Fergie's thoughts:
"If you look at the experience of last year, we lost a Wednesday game against Bayern, and the team was very tired against Chelsea in the next game. That has to have a bearing on my team selection {versus Schalke}. There will be changes, but hopefully the nucleus of the team will still be good enough to win the game."
Source: Guardian
In other injury news, it appears that midfielder Darren Fletcher may make his return tomorrow night. The Scotsman was seen training at Carrington on Tuesday morning and here's what Fergie had to say about him:
"Darren Fletcher will play part of the game tomorrow night. He's working hard and he'll be involved"
Source: www.manutd.com
Fabio suffered from a knock versus Arsenal and the youngster may be unavailable versus Schalke after missing training on Tuesday. Reserves goalkeeper Anders Lindegaard has healed from knee surgery and he is available should he be needed.