Ferguson won't rush Rooney return

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Rooney suffered a hairline fracture to his foot a month ago and is keep to return against his former club Everton this weekend. But the United manager will assess the striker's fitness in the coming days, aware of the danger of the England international coming back too early.

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Sidelined: Wayne Rooney

"He started training on Monday," said Ferguson. "Obviously with that type of injuiry you don't bring him back unless he's ready.

"The scan was good and we were pleased with that. He's got a bit of work to do. We must assess how far has his fitness suffered with being out for so long. But we know he's on the way back."

Ferguson admitted Rooney's injury forced him to push Carlos Tevez into first-team action quicker than he would have liked after the on-off transfer from West Ham.

He said: "We didn't really know if we were going to get the player or not. There were so many side issues to it.

"Because of all that he wasn't really doing any training. Then after Rooney's injury we had to bring Tevez in so we were trying to bring him back to fitness after no pre-season and still perform in the Premier League. It's difficult to get the balance right."

Ferguson predicted that last seaon's top four will not have it all their own way this season.

He said: "It looks like it's going to be a really tight Premier Leagie this time. Blackburn and Newcastle are two good sides. They have really improved and will take points off everyone."