Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie to miss midweek international friendlies

Manchester United strikers -- and perhaps co-talisman -- Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie will miss international friendlies on Wednesday for England and Holland, respectively. Rooney had to come off at Villa Park this past weekend after picking up an ankle knock and it will keep him out for England's friendly versus Sweden. RvP went the full 90 minutes versus Aston Villa on Saturday but a reported thigh strain will keep him out of Holland's friendly versus Germany.

Assuming that these injuries are not serious, and there have been no indications that they are, then perhaps, this won't be such a bad thing. Rooney has been logging heavy minutes as of late for both club and country while RvP could use a rest as well. The availability of the two strikers for Saturday's upcoming match at Norwich City is uncertain but the in-form Javier Hernandez is a terrific option for United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. In fact, the gaffer has already indicated that the Mexican international will be selected at Carrow Road. Danny Welbeck is very possible to feature for England in Stockholm on Wednesday and he'll be an option for United as well on Saturday if both Rooney and RvP aren't able to play.