Sir Alex Ferguson has said that Wayne Rooney will play no part in Manchester United's trip to Anfield on Sunday.

The 26-year-old injured his thigh in a clash with Hugo Rodallega during the Red Devils' 3-2 win over Fulham.

It had been reported that Rooney may be back in time to face Liverpool, but the Scot has now put the matter to bed.

"I know there were reports in the paper about Rooney being possible, but that is not the case," said the 70-year-old. "He's not far away, I think he may be fine for next week.

"He's doing a lot of great training and has been working hard. It's just a matter of getting him into the full football training side of things, which he has done part of."

Ferguson also revealed that Ashley Young will miss Sunday's crunch clash having bruised his knee cartilage.

"Ashley Young has got a bruised cartilage - I think it's going to take two or three weeks more," he added. "We're just taking our time with that one. You can easily play with it and train but we're not going down that road, we want to make sure he's okay."

The former Aston Villa winger also picked up his problem in the win over Fulham.