Sir Alex Ferguson today expressed his disappointment that Wayne Rooney played nearly all of England's win over Egypt just three days after injuring his knee in the Carling Cup Final.
The Manchester United manager is worried that his star striker — who has scored 28 goals this season — is being used too much and claimed that he left the 24-year-old out of the starting line-up against Aston Villa on Sunday because of concerns he had over the heavy' Wembley pitch.
In the end, Rooney played for almost an hour of United's 2-1 win after Michael Owen was forced off with a hamstring injury — which Ferguson also blamed on the surface at Wembley — that has ended his season.
Ferguson then released his star man for international duty, after confirming he had suffered a minor knee injury which was expected to rule him out of Wednesday's friendly.
Instead, after a scan revealed no damage, not only was Rooney part of Fabio Capello's line-up, he remained on the pitch until the 86th minute.
Rooney is a doubt for United's match at Wolves tomorrow and Ferguson, who at first absolved Capello of any blame, then said he was upset the striker was not taken off by the England boss earlier.
Ferguson said: "We didn't speak to England to ensure he wouldn't play the full game but there were some changes made and I thought Rooney would have been one of them, particularly as he went into the game with a small injury.
"It is disappointing. When you are playing on that pitch for almost an hour on Sunday and then nearly a full game on Wednesday it's far too much. Now he is a doubt for Wolves."
While Ferguson wants Rooney used less, he did admit that not playing Owen enough has probably led to the setback that has ended any hopes the former Liverpool striker, who is to undergo an operation, had of going to the World Cup.
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He added: "Michael has been such an important player for us and I know I have not used him as much as I should have. That is a lot to do with Rooney's form and our choice of playing one striker. He has been a little bit unfortunate with that.
"It is the first time he has had a hamstring injury in four years as well, so it is a disappointment for the lad and a bad blow for us."
However, Owen Hargreaves could make his long-awaited comeback in a reserves match against Manchester City at Altrincham on Thursday. The midfielder has been sidelined since September 2008 with knee problems.
