Rooney and Evra set for Chelsea clash

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is confident both Wayne Rooney and Patrice Evra will be fit for the crunch match with Premier League title rivals Chelsea at Old Trafford on Sunday.

England striker Rooney missed training on Tuesday with a hamstring problem and was not even on the bench for Wednesday's 4-1 Champions League semi final win against Schalke, which gave United a 6-1 aggregate success after a 2-0 first leg win in Germany.

Evra came on as a second half substitute on Wednesday but suffered a blow that at one stage looked as if the defender himself would need to be replaced.

"Patrice got a kick," Ferguson told MUTV, the club's in-house television station, on Thursday. "I was ready to substitute him but he said he was OK."

As for Rooney's absence, Ferguson added: "Wayne will be all right. I wasn't prepared to take a risk."

Premier League leaders United are currently three points ahead of Chelsea, with both clubs still having three games of the domestic season left to play.

United will face a star-studded Barcelona, who beat fierce Spanish rivals Real Madrid in their semi final, in the Champions League final at London's Wembley Stadium on May 28.

The match is a repeat of the 2009 final, which Barcelona won 2-0 in Rome, and victory for either side at Wembley would give them a fourth European Cup triumph - level with Germany's Bayern Munich and Dutch club Ajax but still well short of Real's record nine titles.

Barcelona, boasting players of the calibre of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, have been widely acclaimed as the best side in Europe.

"Everyone is saying we are playing a fantastic team, which we are," Ferguson said.

"But you can't write us off. You can never write Manchester United off."