Man Utd striker Wayne Rooney

Red-hot Wayne Rooney fired Man Utd to Carling Cup glory - but the triumph came at a price.

The Wembley hero, who scored the winner in the 2-1 victory against Aston Villa, is a doubt for England with the striker having a knee injury assessed by doctors.

Rooney was left out of the starting XI on Sunday but came on to secure a memorable win with his superbly taken 74th-minute header.

Sir Alex Ferguson later revealed that he was ready to take the in-form Reds striker off - only for Rooney to insist on seeing the match out.

England boss Fabio Capello will be desperate to have him lead his England attack against Egypt on Wednesday but Ferguson said: "He's been complaining about that for a few weeks. He got a whack right away and I thought I'd have to take him off but he wanted to stay on.

"I don't think it's a problem for Wayne playing 90 minutes on any pitch to be honest but the doctor's assessing it at the moment. I don't know what we are going to do about it."

While Ferguson didn't suggest he would withdraw Rooney from Capello's squad, he did voice concerns about the Wembley pitch.

"The pitch was very soft and it drained the players. Wembley is a tiring pitch. Fortunately, we've got until next Saturday to recover," said Ferguson.