WAYNE Rooney admits he doesn't expect to be given penalty duties again after his miss against Aston Villa.

Rooney saw a second half spot kick saved by Stuart Taylor in Manchester United's 4-1 win - when a goal would have seen him complete a hat trick.

But the England international was only handed the opportunity because regular penalty taker Cristiano Ronaldo was on the bench.

RIO Ferdinand believes Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez have proved they can become a lethal strike force for Manchester United.

Ferdinand believes their form of late has "dispelled the myth" they cannot gel together.

The defender said: "It is fantastic for us to have Wayne and Carlos. The myth about the two of them not being able to play together and it was finally put to bed against Villa.

UNITED recovered from an early scare to ease to victory over nine-man Aston villa. The home side had taken the lead through Gabriel Agbonlahor, but United big guns Wayne Rooney (two) Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs ensured the Reds jumped back up to second in the Premier League table.

Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping to make Nemanja Vidic's birthday weekend by declaring him fit to face Aston Villa, while Edwin van der Sar has confirmed he could play.

Edwin van der Sar is hoping to make his comeback from a toe injury against Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Dutch goalkeeper, who turns 37 at the end of the month, feels he has overcome the injury that forced him out of the 1-0 win over Birmingham City three weeks ago.

Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson is confident that loan signing Phil Bardsley will be a sound addition to his squad.

The Blades have struggled in the Championship after their controversial relegation from the top flight last term, but Robbo is hopeful that Bardsley bring solidity to his side's backline.

Owen Hargreaves hopes to finally resume his promising start to life with United against Aston Villa this weekend.

Injuries have restricted the England midfielder to just three appearances since joining from Bayern Munich, but he hopes to finally make his return at Villa Park.

"I hope this is it for me injury-wise. I have missed enough games," Hargreaves told The Sun.

Nemanja Vidic has warned of the pressures international duty can place on players in the Barclays Premier League.

Most players away on international duty will have boarded flights back to Manchester in the early hours of Thursday morning, but Friday's training session at Carrignton will be the only full run-out they'll have before Saturday's trip to Villa Park.

Wayne Rooney was left "gutted" after England threw away a single-goal lead in Moscow last night.

Ryan Giggs today moved a step closer to breaking the Manchester United all-time appearance record after signing a new one-year contract to keep him at Old Trafford until the end of next season.

The 33-year-old has played 727 matches for United since his debut against Everton in March 1991. Only Sir Bobby Charlton, with 759 appearances, has played more games for the club.