Wayne Rooney is willing to have an injection on his injured toe and play through the pain barrier to face Bayern Munich and David Moyes said Manchester United will do everything possible to get him on the pitch.
#INSERT
type:image
caption: David Moyes is willing to risk Wayne Rooney against Bayern.
END#
• Mitten: Hope is growing
• Payne: Different test
• Rooney: We can progress
The England international missed Saturday’s 4-0 win over Newcastle with the toe problem, which he suffered in last week’s 1-1 draw with Bayern at Old Trafford but manager Moyes said he would be “mad” not to use his 17-goal top scorer.
Rooney trained in Manchester on Tuesday before flying to Germany and Moyes believes United will not be taking a huge risk by fielding him in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday.
“He was able to train,” he said in his news conference in Munich. “He is massively keen to be involved. We will to everything we possibly can. He is happy to take an injection to play which shows you his feeling about the game, about the club and we need him as well. He is a really important player.
“We think it is okay because we wouldn't do anything medically wrong. We take our advice from our doctors. Everyone knows the character Wayne is and the type of person he is and he is determined to play. If he is determined, we would be mad not to give him that opportunity to do so.”
United are without their other premier striker, with Robin van Persie injured, and their club record signing, as Juan Mata is cup-tied after featuring for Chelsea in the group stages. United impressed when holding Bayern last week but Moyes believes they need to improve further to eliminate the European champions.
He added: "I expect us to play better. And I believe we can. To get through, we will have to. We'll need a good performance from everybody. We can't have any passengers."
United’s season will be reduced to fighting Spurs for a Europa League berth if they lose and Moyes added: “We are treating it like a cup final.”