ALEX FERGUSON is notoriously sensitive to anyone questioning his players but, equally, the Manchester United manager has never appreciated too much praise being heaped on one individual. Ferguson has become increasingly irritated over the last few weeks by the amount of attention Wayne Rooney has received and made it clear, at his weekly press conference yesterday, that there were to be no questions about the Premier League's in-form player.

"You've spoken a lot about Wayne recently and I'm not talking about him any more," Ferguson said. "It's his birthday today - happy birthday, Wayne, good luck. He's playing fantastic. I'm seeing great performances and goal-scoring. And that's it, right? I'm here to discuss Manchester United, not one player. You want a headline, I want a team performance."

Rooney, who was 23 yesterday, is in the most prolific form of his life, scoring nine goals in seven games to reach 99 career goals, with the opportunity to make it 100 against his old club, Everton, today. Ferguson, however, was unimpressed when it was put to him that people wanted to read a good-news story.

"Well let them get the Beano or the Dandy, or some Agatha Christie novels. There's plenty of reading material out there, Jesus Christ!"

Immovable as always, Ferguson preferred to talk about the resurgence that has seen United win their last six games and not concede a league goal since the 1-1 draw with Chelsea on September 21st. In that period, United have risen to fifth, six points behind Chelsea but with a game in hand, and Ferguson said he was "delighted" the damage was not worse given their early-season problems with form and injuries.

Chelsea's impressive form has established them as the bookmakers' favourites to win the title, but Ferguson believes there is another reason. "I think it's because we've got the World Championship in Japan, when we're away for 10 days (in December)," he said. "Coming back from that is going to be a test for us. That's where the title will be decided for us - how we handle that."

The Everton manager, David Moyes, meanwhile, showed there was no hangover from the highly-publicised libel battle he fought with Rooney last year over comments the striker made about his management, preferring to focus on the player's recent form.

"I think everyone knows how good Wayne is and his best years are still to come," he said.

Despite his team's poor start this season, Moyes feels they have "nothing to lose" today. "I think there will be more pressure on them to win," he said.

Meanwhile, Martin O'Neill is to investigate claims John Carew was in a lap-dancing bar on the morning of Aston Villa's Uefa Cup tie against Ajax on Thursday. If the allegations are proved, he is likely to be fined two weeks wages, which equates to about €150,000.

Although O'Neill omitted Carew from the squad that faced Ajax, the Villa manager was not aware of the allegations that he had visited a club in Birmingham, and was instead responding to the forward's claims earlier in the week that he was suffering from fatigue since returning from international duty. Carew, however, did not learn that he would be rested for the Ajax match, which Villa won 2-1, until the day of the game, meaning he breached club rules by going out in the city.

While there is no suggestion that the 29-year-old consumed alcohol in the nightclub, O'Neill is unlikely to take a lenient view.

O'Neill had indicated Carew would be in contention for tomorrow's match at Wigan Athletic after the blood tests the club had run earlier in the week showed there was nothing untoward, despite the player's concerns that he was feeling tired. But there is now a strong possibility he will jettison Carew from the squad that travels to the JJB Stadium.

Guardian Service