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It
has not been the start to the season that the Red Devils would have
liked but the 3-2 win over arch-rivals, Liverpool, last Sunday has done
a lot to boost the confidence levels of the players, especially
hat-trick hero, Dimitar Berbatov. They face Bolton, also of Manchester
in Sunday’s early kick-off before embarking on the Wednesday Champions
League fixture against Valencia in Spain.

Ferguson told the
club’s official website that: “There was a lot of criticism of Dimitar
in the media last season, but there’s never been any doubt here about
the quality of the man.

“This season he’s
started off in the right fashion. His pre-season training was good, he
was very good on the pre-season tour and he’s carried that on.” But one
player who is still in the dumps is last season’s 34-goal hero, Wayne
Rooney. The England man, still suffering from a dismal showing at the
World Cup then got caught in the headlights of revelations that he had
cheated on his wife – Coleen – when she was pregnant with their son,
Kai.

United manager
understands the scrutiny that Rooney is undergoing and has lent his
young protégé the needed support. “I don’t believe he has a confidence
problem,” Ferguson told Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport.” “He is
realising what it means to be at the centre of media attention for
non-football-related questions,” added Ferguson.

“I don’t think the
boy can turn a corner at the moment without a camera on him. He can’t
move without the paparazzi being on him and, for a young person, that
is not what you want.

“You want to play
and enjoy your football without that attention on you, because that can
be quite exhausting. He would like to keep playing with freedom, but
the siege of the tabloids can wear out anyone.” The trip to the Reebok
Stadium will be the Red Devils’ fifth game in 16 days, and Michael
Carrick, Antonio Valencia are out injured while Owen Hargreaves has
just returned to training. Rio Ferdinand should partner Nemanja Vidic
after he successfully completed 90 minutes at Scunthorpe on Wednesday
night.

Bolton have lost
just two of their last 12 home games in all competitions and will
welcome back goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen and Kevin Davies after
having served their respective suspensions.

Bolton manager,
Owen Coyle, explained in a pre-match press conference that, “Jussi has
been a fantastic servant to the Premier League, but nevertheless I’ve
still got a very tough decision to make, because Adam Bogdan has been
fantastic over the last three games.

Gary Cahill will
serve the final game of a three-match ban following his sending off at
Arsenal, and will be unavailable for selection, whilst Andy O’Brien,
Joey O’Brien and Sean Davis are sidelined with injury.

United are expected to pick the points at a stadium they have not lost at since 2008.

Yo-yo Juve face tough away trip

The up and down
fortunes for Gigi Del Neri and his re-building efforts at the Stadio
Del Alpi continued on Thursday as they lost at home to Palermo side
that needed a victory at all costs.

Where will the team go against Cagliari, who have not been easy opponents of the Bianconieri in recent times.

In the loss to Palermo, their opponents gave the home team more of the possession, and looked to hit on the counter.

Sitting
midfielders, Felipe Melo and Claudio Marchisio will have to do more
support work for the strikers as the fact was though Juve had more of
the ball, they did not get enough into dangerous areas of the Palermo
back line.

It left Juventus
with plenty of the ball, but not enough support in the final third,
either to provide chances or to capitalise on them. Milos Krasic tried
to stretch the opponent’s defence but so many times, his moves broke
down in the final third. Del Neri may have to start either Amauri or
Vincenzo Iaquinta to support Aessandro Del Piero and Krasic.

Cagliari will not be easy opponents and have made a good start to
the season. They held an impressive Sampdoria to a scoreless draw on
Wednesday. Cagliari are also unbeaten this term and in their last home,
pummelled Roma 5-1.