Just seven matches remaining in the Premier League, a maximum of twelve before the season comes to an end and you can rest assured that nervous Manchester United fans, never mind manager Sir Alex Ferguson, will be counting every minute of them hoping that goal machine Wayne Rooney will be able to see the season out without any major mishaps.
The latest scare to hit the United camp is the swelling on his knee which caused the striker to limp away from Old Trafford following Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Liverpool and is thought to be suffering from an inflamed tendon.
Rooney is central to United’s hopes of winning further silverware this season and with a key clash with Premier League title rivals Chelsea and a Champions League quarter final against Bayern Munich on the horizon, the 33 goal striker may well be spared Saturday’s trip to the Reebok Stadium amid fears that his niggling knee injury is getting worse.
His problem first arose ahead of the Carling Cup final and Ferguson left the 24 year old on the bench to give him a rest but had to call on his services after Michael Owen got injured just 30 minutes into the match.
The striker followed that up on the heavy Wembley pitch for England just three days later and was criticised by Ferguson for staying on for 86 minutes of the friendly against Egypt.
United are unable to give their star player much rest during the title run in and with just 80 days to go before the World Cup starts England coach Fabio Capello will be keeping a close eye on his prized asset.
Although United appear to be capable of taking all three points from 14th placed Bolton who have won just once in their last five matches at the Reebok, the type of slip up suffered by Chelsea at Blackburn on the weekend must be avoided if the champions are to maintain their top of the table position.
Should Wayne Rooney be rested at Bolton for the critical matches ahead?
