**Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has played down fears over Wayne Rooney’s ankle injury suffered in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich.**The England frontman turned his ankle in the build-up to the Germans’ injury-time winner and limped from the field.
But Ferguson said: “He’s obviously hurt his ankle. It’s too early to say [but] I don’t think it’s terribly serious.”
United face title rivals Chelsea on Saturday, ahead of the second leg clash against Bayern on Wednesday, 7 April.
The 24-year-old’s injury is also bound to be a concern for England coach Fabio Capello, coming a little more than two months before the start of the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Rooney left the stadium in Munich on crutches, but United will allow his injury to settle overnight before assessing the damage and deciding on a course of action.
Asked if he could feature against Chelsea in Saturday’s 1245 BST kick-off at Old Trafford, Ferguson added: “I can’t answer that, we will know better on Wednesday.”
Rooney had scored the opener in Tuesday’s tie at the Allianz Arena, taking his tally for the season for United to 34 goals.
It was not enough to earn United the first-leg advantage, though, as Bayern fought back with a Franck Ribery free-kick and injury-time winner from Ivica Olic to give themselves a lead ahead of the second leg at Old Trafford.
And Ferguson admitted his side had not produced their best in Germany.
“We didn’t start the game that well,” he said. "We gave the ball away too easily from minute one. Our possession wasn’t our standard and that’s something we pride ourselves on.
"I just felt that our possession wasn’t good enough and that was a big disappointment for us.
"[Still] it’s an advantage to score away from home. And we had outstanding chances to kill the tie, twice with Rooney, once in the first half and once in the second half.
“That said, [goalkeeper] Edwin van der Sar kept us in the game.”
He added: "They pressed us really hard and we cracked a bit. The last goal was a terrible one to give away.
“However, the game at Old Trafford will be a different one and we will be much better. No doubt about that.”
Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, meanwhile, was delighted with what he described as a “well-deserved win.”
“After a shock first goal, we needed 10 minutes to recover and afterwards we were the best side,” said the Dutchman.
"We have a good chance in Manchester because we can always score away from home."This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.