Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson insists he was led by the club's medical chief over fielding Wayne Rooney against Bayern Munich last week.

Ferguson says the decision was not his alone.

"He [Wayne] had burst a blood vessel in Germany," he said. "But, once the swelling had gone down on the Sunday, Steve McNally [the Manchester United doctor] said he could be ready for Wednesday.

"I said I doubted that very much, but Steve said that the swelling and the bruising had gone and the scan was perfect. The work Wayne did on Tuesday persuaded me to put him in a practise game with the other players. He was perfect - shooting and tackling all over the bloody place.

"Then you have to decide if it was worth the risk. I spoke to him on the Wednesday morning and he said he'd had no reaction. He wanted to play."