Early signs are good as Wayne Rooney jets back for scan

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The full extent of the problem he sustained at the end of the 2-1 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich will not be known until tomorrow, when the Manchester United striker has a scan back in England.

But the initial diagnosis suggests that his ankle is only sprained and Rooney will be out for between two and four weeks.

The 24-year-old will definitely miss the Premier League title clash with Chelsea on Saturday and next week's quarter-final return leg with Bayern Munich.

If today's reports are correct, though, it appears the striker will be back before the end of the season and will be able to play a full part in this summer's World Cup in South Africa.

Fabio Capello said today that he had no news on Rooney's condition and would wait until later in the week before calling Sir Alex Ferguson for an update.

Losing the striker would be a huge blow for England's chances in South Africa but United keeper Edwin van der Sar insists the club can cope without him.

Rooney took his tally for the season to 34 last night with the opening goal before Franck Ribery's free-kick deflected off the striker and into his own net and Ivica Olic scored a late winner.

Yet Van der Sar believes the 4-0 win over Bolton — in which Dimitar Berbatov scored twice — proved United have strength in depth.

He said: "Against Bolton we also played with some other players. It can happen in the season. You always want your best players available but we know the players coming in can also do a good job."

Berbatov has 12 goals for the season but Ferguson does not have much back-up should the Bulgarian suffer an injury.

Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck are already out with hamstring and knee injuries, while Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf did not even make the substitutes' bench to face the Germans last night.

United have six games of the domestic campaign remaining, after which it will be another three-and-a-half weeks before England's World Cup squad fly out to South Africa.

Capello has already said he will not be taking any injured players with him, however that policy faces a severe test should star striker Rooney miss the rest of the season.