Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told MUTV that Wayne Rooney could be fit to play for England in their UEFA EURO 2012 qualifier with Montenegro on October 12.

Although Ferguson has not done a general press conference ahead of tomorrow's trip to Sunderland, the United boss has done selected interviews, including with the club's in-house TV station.

The Scot, while ruling Rooney out of the Sunderland encounter with the ankle injury he aggravated at Bolton last Sunday, revealed he could be available to Fabio Capello who is due to name his squad for the game on Monday.

"Wayne trained yesterday and he wants to play tomorrow," Ferguson told local radio station Key103, who also spoke to the United boss this morning. "But I have to take the view that this injury has been niggling away for a while and he kept on playing.

"I have to be dead sure that I am doing the right thing because Wayne has not been doing himself justice. I think in a week he will be fine. Obviously we don't play in a week, so it is up to Fabio Capello whether he wants him to."

The Montenegro match is another ten days away. By that time I would expect Wayne to be 100%.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager

On this occasion it clearly works to England's advantage that they only have one match to play in the forthcoming international break, on the second of the two dates.

"The Montenegro match is another ten days away," confirmed Ferguson."By that time I would expect Wayne to be 100%."

"The problem with the lad is that he is too willing to play with injuries," said Ferguson. It is a great trait to have in any footballer. I have had many players over the years who might have had injuries but weren't prepared to miss a game because of them.

"But with the speed and number of games you have these days, fitness levels are really important."

Rooney is not the only fitness issue Ferguson is having to contend with. Slightly less clear-cut with Sunderland in mind is the availability of Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick and Anderson, who all started Wednesday's win in Valencia after extended periods on the sidelines.

"We are going to check them," revealed Ferguson. "Wednesday was Rio's first real game for six months. I know he played against Rangers and Scunthorpe. But that was a real game on Wednesday and you have to go back to April since he was playing consistently.

"Michael Carrick played in the Community Shield but he had been bothered by his Achilles and Anderson had only played one game since injuring his cruciate ligaments at West Ham."

Paul Scholes' calf injury will not be risked, while Ryan Giggs does not believe he will be ready for a return following his hamstring complaint until after the international break.

"The injury is not too bad," said Giggs. "It has settled down quite quickly. Hopefully I will be training at the back end of next week and then I will be ready to play straight after the internationals."