Man Utd Team News: Moyes Offers Latest On RVP, Fellaini & Rooney

Manchester United take on Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to continue to close in on the top four.

Ahead of the game, boss David Moyes has been speaking to the media at his press conference and gave ManUtd.com the latest on the fitness of Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Marouane Fellaini.

United were boosted by the return to fitness of van Persie and Rooney in midweek. The Dutch striker started his first game in over six weeks after recovering from a thigh injury that kept him out of the last 11 matches and he was on the score-sheet within six minute as he headed the champions ahead against Cardiff.

Rooney also made his comeback in the game as he replaced RVP just after the hour mark and Moyes expressed his delight at having his star strikers back in the squad, but insisted he’s going to be cautious over how he uses them over the next few games.

Moyes also said he was hopeful the return of the duo will see them be far more ruthless in front of goal during the second half of the season.

Another player who’s been on the sidelines recently is midfielder Fellaini and the United boss revealed that although this weekend comes too soon, the Belgian is close to making a comeback after missing the last 6 weeks following surgery on his left wrist.

Moyes told the clubs official website:

“I’ve got them back and it’s great to have them,”

“We’re mindful they’re both coming back from injuries and we have to make sure they’re ready [before we give them 90 minutes].

“We’re a little bit more concerned about Robin because he’s been out longer; Wayne’s been out for a shorter period. We have to keep managing them and do things right.”

“I think some of our performances have been quite good [but] we just didn’t finish our chances.

“When you want to win you need people like Robin van Persie, who will get you the winning goal. The other night, we started well and Robin got us a goal after six minutes.

“Did I think the performance was better than many of the other games? Actually, no I didn’t. What I had was people who could win me the game and get me the goal at the right moments.”

“Felli’s on the fringes of things,” Moyes said. “We need to get him a bit of match practice but he’s very close as well.”

The Reds head into the game off the back of a 2-0 win over Cardiff City on Tuesday which moved them to within three points of fifth placed Tottenham, while they still remain six adrift of fourth-placed Liverpool following their 4-0 win over Everton.

With Rooney and Van Persie now edging back to full fitness and Juan Mata giving the whole club a huge boost, United are now ready to make a strong push to reclaim a place in the top-four to qualify for the Champions League after a disappointing first half to the season.

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