Ferguson: Rooney back to his best

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson declared Wayne Rooney "back to his best" after the young striker helped inspire United to a thrilling comeback win over Wigan.

The England star may still be waiting for his first goal since the opening day of the season, but his two assists helped ease United to a 3-1 triumph which consolidated their position at the Premiership summit.

"Wayne's second-half performance showed he was right back to his best," declared Ferguson. "He made the second goal and had a hand in almost every move."

He added: "The two games he has just played for England have probably helped him and got him to the tempo of the game and, together with Louis Saha, he proved to be a real handful."

Rooney certainly made his mark on the contest, but he would probably be the first to admit Ryan Giggs was the real catalyst behind the triumph.

After spending a month on the sidelines with a hamstring strain, Giggs was only on the bench due to the ankle injury which kept out Cristiano Ronaldo. The Welshman was introduced at half time, moving onto the left-hand side with Rooney reverting to a more central role, which brought a more effective shape to United's side.

"The plan was to give Ryan half an hour, but I wasn't confident at half-time and he was keen to go on and help us," revealed Ferguson, who also confirmed he expected Ronaldo to play against FC Copenhagen in the Champions League on Tuesday.

"We changed the system, had a go for it and we have done well to come away with a result."

There was no argument from Wigan boss Paul Jewell about how influential the introduction of Giggs was to the outcome.

"There is no getting away from the fact they battered us in the second half," admitted Jewell. "Once Ryan Giggs came on, they changed their shape to 4-4-2 and annihilated us. They could have got two or three before the equaliser."