Rooney goes back to front

Sir Alex Ferguson begins his five–match touchline ban tomorrow preparing to abandon the experiment of using Wayne Rooney in midfield.

After accepting his punishment for critical comments about Martin Atkinson in the wake of United's 2–1 defeat at Chelsea earlier this month, Ferguson will be sat in the Old Trafford stands for the Premier League encounter with Bolton.

United are under pressure to gain a victory that would consolidate their position at the top of the table

And that might mean a more advanced role for Rooney.

"We only started playing Wayne deeper because of the injury situation before the game against Arsenal last Saturday," said Ferguson. "But Bolton are a completely different team and I may change it."

One man who definitely won't be involved is Rio Ferdinand, whose absence with a calf injury is about to extend into a seventh week.

Ferguson has raised doubts over the 32–year–old returning before the end of the season, although he insists Ferdinand still has a future.

With skipper Nemanja Vidic also out, Chris Smalling and Wes Brown are likely to continue in central defence.

United, Tottenham and Chelsea were in today’s draw for the Champions League quarter-finals and semi-finals.