Rooney sat out last weekend's victory over Tottenham, while Ferdinand has missed two matches since he suffered his injury at Blackburn.

Sir Alex Ferguson has never lost to a team managed by United old boy Steve Bruce, although Sunderland have lost just twice at home in the league this season.

Team (from): Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Foster, Neville, O'Shea, Rafael, De Laet, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Evra, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes, Fletcher, Park, Gibson, Obertan, Valencia, Giggs, Nani, Berbatov, Rooney, Macheda, Diouf.