• Premier League

Moyes plays down Rooney injury

Manchester United manager David Moyes has moved to reassure fans that Wayne Rooney is not set for a spell on the sidelines after a groin injury ruled him out of Saturday's 1-0 win at Norwich.

Rooney was a surprise omission from the United line-up for the game at Carrow Road, with his absence a blow to a team already trying to fill the void left by an injured Robin van Persie, yet Moyes seems confident his No. 10 will not be out for long.

"He was missing because he has a bit of an adductor injury in his groin, but it's not serious," Moyes said when asked about Rooney's absence. "He missed the Stoke game in the [League] cup with it a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately he missed this one as well today.

"If we hadn't got so many games and we could give him a couple of weeks off just to recover, but I think he would be fine. I'd expect him to be okay for the next game against Tottenham."

Moyes went on to praise his team as they secured another away win, just two days after their 3-2 win at Hull and moved to within two points of the top four in the Premier League.

"To win back-to-back games within three days away from home in the Premier League is really difficult," Moyes said. "The squad has coped really well and I was delighted to get the result. We had to dig deep to get the victory.

"I thought Norwich got right behind their manager and the crowd got right behind their team. They responded from their defeat against Fulham [on Boxing Day], but Danny Welbeck made the difference for us when he came on. He ran, made good opportunities and scored a great goal.

"The players have got the bit between their teeth. We have to keep believing we're going to catch the teams above us and we are finding ways to win games now. Manchester United did that last team and we are finding ways to win again.

"We have a big squad at Manchester United and we need that at the moment because we have quite a few injuries. We have to just keep going, play are games and keep trying to improve."

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