Ferguson critical of 'half-baked' Rooney plan

LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson has said England striker Wayne Rooney should not be pressed into playing at the World Cup if he is not fully fit.

United's Rooney is recovering from a broken fourth metatarsal in his right foot, although England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has said he will take the 20-year-old to Germany in the hope that he will play some part in the tournament.

''I don't want any complications with Wayne's broken foot -- especially with a bandwagon gathering pace to get him to the World Cup come hell or high water,'' Ferguson was quoted as saying in the News of the World.

''Let's get it straight right now. For the sake of the boy himself and the rest of the England team, we at United will do everything possible to get him fit in time.

''But I'm not going along with this half-baked idea of him going to Germany 80 percent fit and then finding him being pressurised into playing before he is ready.

''That's what happened with David Beckham in the last World Cup and it was a disaster because he wasn't right.

''Wayne is young and, in the environment of a World Cup, it would be easy to persuade him to play despite not being fully fit. What is needed is a sensible approach.'' Eriksson names his provisional 27-man squad for the next month's World Cup finals tomorrow.

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