Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce was relieved when Wayne Rooney hobbled off injured against Bayern Munich on Wednesday night. Rovers host United on Sunday hoping to inflict further misery on Sir Alex Ferguson following their midweek UEFA Champions League exit to the German giants.

When asked if he felt relieved at the sight of Rooney trudging off injured, Allardyce replied: "Of course I did, he's scored so many goals for them this year he would be a massive danger to us if he was fit and able to play.

"Wayne has scored the vast majority of their goals and the second leading goalscorer is called 'OG'.

"They have had 13 own goals in their favour this year. That shows the pressure they put on other teams but it also shows there's a big gap and a big loss with Wayne not playing and hopefully that can only be a help for us to get a result."

Allardyce sees his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson as a role model and revealed the veteran United manager acts as a mentor for him.

"I'm as fiercely competitive as he is and we want to write the headlines on Monday morning," added Allardyce.

"Sir Alex is one of the people in football I'm close to along with Phil Brown, David Moyes and Steve Bruce.

"When we meet up we like to have a drink together and chew the fat and discuss football matters.

"I consider him to be the greatest manager of a team the world has seen over the last two decades, so you would always accept advice from someone like that.

"It's a nice thing to know you have got in your locker the ability, if for whatever reason you're struggling with something, to pick the phone up and discuss it with someone who has the guile, the know-how and the experience he's got."