Wayne Rooney prepared for his return to Goodison Park this weekend by firing two more goals in United’s 3-2 win in Milan in last night’s Champions League tie.

Rooney was once again the shining light for Ferguson’s men as they turned around an early setback to claim a 3-1 second-half lead with Rooney’s brace of headers. A late Seedorf goal put the tie back in the balance, meaning that Ferguson will have few thoughts about resting key players for the return leg on March 10.

In fact, given that the tie follows a trip to Molineux to face Wolves four days earlier, there will now be the usual nervy wait for Rooney’s name on the United teamsheet for that gameweek 29 fixture. Nonetheless, with United embarking on a double fixture gameweek with trips to Everton and a home tie with West Ham, heavy investment in Rooney is surely set to continue in the next few days…

Ferguson’s lineup last night had some interesting pointers. Nani was once again favoured over Valencia but perhaps significantly, he came off the bench to replace the Portuguese winger on the hour mark and set up Rooney’s first goal in under two minutes. There were clear signs last night that the frustrating side of Nani has reared its head again. Nani is of course about to serve a three-match ban and will miss the game at Goodison this weekend, handing Valencia the opportunity to stake a claim for the right-wing berth. Investment in him will surely continue right up until Saturday’s deadline.

Jonny Evans was preferred alongside the returning Rio Ferdinand at the back. Ferdinand looked particularly shaky early on and remains suspended against Everton. With Vidic still seemingly struggling for fitness, we may well see Wes Brown to make a return to the lineup alongside Evans. It will be interesting to see how the pairing can contain an in-form Louis Saha.