Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed that he intends to start Wayne Rooney during Manchester United's Champions League clash with CFR Cluj tomorrow night.

With his side having already qualified for the last 16 of the competition, Ferguson is expected to rest a number of his key squad members with Sunday's Manchester derby in mind.

However, Ferguson believes that Rooney's performance at the weekend would be hampered if he did not feature against Cluj on Wednesday.

"When Wayne gets interrupted he needs three games to get back," Ferguson told reporters. "That's why he'll definitely play tomorrow.

"Wayne needs to play a lot of games to get his match fitness up. He's a strongly-built lad and when he misses two games, it takes him three games to come back. It's the way he's always been."

A number of United's youth players have been tipped to be included in the squad for the match.