Fergie happy with a point as injuries strike

STOKE CITY 1, MAN UTD 1
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson expects Wayne Rooney to be out of action for more than a week after the England striker missed Saturday’s 1–1 draw at Stoke due to a hamstring problem.

United's 100 per cent start to the Barclays Premier League season came to an end in Rooney's absence. He hopes, he said, to be fit to feature in the Champions League clash with Basle at Old Trafford tomorrow.

But Ferguson said: "It’s difficult to say. It's a hamstring. It is not a serious one. I don't think he will be available. It will be more than a week out."

England are next in action in Montenegro on October 7, when a point is all that is required to reach Euro 2012, and national manager Fabio Capello will hope to have Rooney available.

With Ferguson having brought Dimitar Berbatov into his first XI to replace Rooney, the United manager then lost Jonny Evans to injury in the warm–up and had to call in Antonio Valencia.

Javier Hernandez was the next player to be struck down, hurt early on after being tackled by Jonathan Woodgate and subsequently withdrawn and replaced by Michael Owen in the 11th minute.

Despite the setbacks, United took the lead in the 27th minute when Nani played a one–two with Darren Fletcher, cut into the box and clipped the ball past Asmir Begovic.

David De Gea then produced superb saves to deny Andy Wilkinson and Jon Walters before the hosts equalised, Peter Crouch notching his first Stoke goal by heading in Matthew Etherington's corner seven minutes into the second half.

Crouch caused problems for United throughout the contest and Ferguson suggested the tall front man was getting away with committing infringements.