Ferguson hits back at Rooney critics

Manchester United [Images] manager Alex Ferguson believes it is only a matter of time before striker Wayne Rooney [Images] emerges from his slump and proves his critics wrong.

Rooney's has not scored since the opening game of the season and has not found the net for England [Images] since Euro 2004, but Ferguson is standing by the 20-year-old.

"You are obviously hoping I might say that's the end of Wayne Rooney, or something like that, and you're actually hoping that yourself, I think," Ferguson told reporters on Friday.

"It makes great headlines for you but you know deep down and every defender in the country knows deep down that the lad is going to come to life, there's no question about that.

"He just needs the games and he needs to focus on what we are telling him and not listen to what the press are telling him.

"Sometimes young players start believing what they read in the papers and it can be self-destructive.

"I have seen it many times. He's your number one seller. You had Gascoigne, Beckham, Best. You look for a hero that you can sell papers with and he's your hero at the moment.

"Without him you'll never sell the same number of papers and whether it's good or bad you are going to sell it some way."

Ferguson said Rooney's slow start to the season can be traced back to his broken foot at the end of last season and then his suspension for a pre-season sending off.

"You can train as much as you like but in terms of getting timing and the tempo of your game right the only thing that helps that is playing games," Ferguson said.

"I am more than confident he will get that very, very soon. He's gradually getting his game coming back and it will come back, there are no fears about that. What we need is a bit of patience."

United, who top the Premier League on goal difference from Chelsea, face Wigan Athletic on Saturday without Ryan Giggs and Gabriel Heinze, both of whom have hamstring injuries.

In-form winger Cristiano Ronaldo [Images] also faces a fitness test on an ankle injury sustained playing for Portugal in midweek.

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