Fergie: 'The nation can stop praying' for Rooney now

Sir Alex Ferguson joked that the nation "can stop praying" after revealing Wayne Rooney could be back in action within two weeks.

Fergie said Rooney would be out for two to three weeks at most with the ankle injury he suffered in Manchester United's 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich.

It was feared Rooney's injury could impact on the England striker's preparation for the World Cup, the start of which is just 69 days away.

But Fergie, in relaxed mood as he revealed the full extent of Rooney's condition, said there was no reason for England fans to worry.

"The situation with Wayne is exactly the same today," said Fergie. "We think he'll be out for two to three weeks.

"There's no bone damage, no serious ligament damage, which is obviously good news for us - so the nation can stop praying!"

Despite his Fergie acknowledged the reaction to Rooney's injury was a measure of just how important he is for both club and country.

"It's more one of panic," said Fergie. "But we're relieved, we are relieved, particularly when I saw him hobbling off like he did.

"You're hoping when you send a player for a scan or an X-ray that you're going to get some good news out of it, and we've got good news out of it.

"It could have been worse, the way he hobbled off. So that's out of the way now, we can put it aside and get on with picking our team without him."

Fergie confirmed one of his long-term injury absentees, Owen Hargreaves and John O'Shea, could make the bench for tomorrow's title showdown with Chelsea.

Hargreaves has been out for 18 months following surgery on both knees, while O'Shea has not played since November after suffering a thigh injury on international duty with the Republic of Ireland.