Manchester United manager David Moyes expects Robin Van Persie to return to the squad at the weekend, after the Dutch striker was left out of the 1-0 Champions League win over Real Sociedad at Old Trafford.
Moyers made the decision not to name Van Persie in the 18-man squad for the game, due to a series of knocks picked up by the former Arsenal man over the season. The manager, though, is hopeful of having Van Persie back for the Premier League clash against Stoke on Saturday.
"Robin, I hope, will be fit for the weekend," Moyes said shortly after the game at Old Trafford. "He's had a couple of niggling injuries even before they went on international duty and they have all just caught up on him a little bit.
"I felt if I could get the chance to give him a breather a little bit I would do. Fortunately for us it worked out fine."
Moyes was also delighted with his side's victory over Sociedad, despite seeing United fail to find a second goal to make the game safe, after Rooney saw his shot strike the post and then rebound off Inigo Martinez into the back of the net in just the second minute of the game.
"It was a job well done, a good performance," Moyes added. "I was frustrated we couldn't kill them off because we had the same on Saturday, with a goal in the last minute. Today [Wednesday] we had that feeling around us, but if we had scored five or six today it wouldn't have been out of place. We had an awful lot of opportunities and didn't finish it off.
"We gave away a couple of freekicks on the edge of the box, and I was concerned about that. A couple of the decisions didn't quite go our way tonight, but it was a good result. We had to win the game at home."
Rooney was in prime form yet again for United, while Shinji Kagawa had his best performance of the season so far. Moyes was happy to see Rooney, who turns 28 today, continue his splendid start to the season.
"He (Rooney) was absolutely terrific tonight, he was great," Moyes said. "Overall, we played really well, and I thought we had some really good performances throughout the team.
"We just want a top player like Wayne to play well, and he is. I have said from day one that he was great, his training was great and he looks in really good shape. We trained him hard to get him as good as possible, and I think that not only Manchester United but England are seeing that as well."
