Watch out, Zlatan: Rooney returns to United training

Matt Stead

Wayne Rooney trained with his Manchester United colleagues on Tuesday morning ahead of their trip to France for their Europa League clash with St Etienne.

United’s all-time record scorer has missed the past four games but participated in a session prior to the flight for the game with St Etienne, who were defeated 3-0 in the reverse fixture last week.

A muscular injury has sidelined Rooney for a length of time in which his team have pieced together a four-game winning streak.

Only midfielder Ander Herrera, who cannot play in the competition due to suspension, and birthday boy Phil Jones, who has been carrying a foot injury, were missing as Jose Mourinho watched on at the Aon Training Complex.

For the section open to the media, Rooney warmed up in a separate group along with nine other colleagues – Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Michael Carrick, Chris Smalling, Marcos Rojo, Matteo Darmian, Ashley Young and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, all of whom will be hoping to get an opportunity to impress on Wednesday.