SOCCER/Manchester U v Chelsea:ALEX FERGUSON has spoken of his belief that Wayne Rooney's injury has made it a "good week" for Chelsea and given them a psychological lift as they come to Old Trafford today for a match that could go a long way to determining the destination of the English Premier League title.

The scans on Rooney’s damaged ligaments have shown that he will miss the next two to three weeks, a diagnosis Ferguson described as “good news” in light of his initial concerns that the leading scorer in England’s top division might have been ruled out for the season.

Ferguson described himself as “relieved”, but he also conceded Manchester United’s main rivals for the title would be lifted by the knowledge they would not have to face a player who has already scored 34 times this season.

“It’s been a good week for Chelsea in the sense they know Wayne Rooney has picked up an injury,” he said.

Rooney has targeted the derby against Manchester City on April 17th for his comeback or, failing that, the first leg of a possible Champions League semi-final against Lyon or Bordeaux, should United overcome a 2-1 deficit to get past Bayern Munich in the second leg of their quarter-final at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

“We’re all relieved, particularly when I saw him hobbling off the pitch like he did,” Ferguson said. “It is a loss but it could have been worse. There’s no bone damage, no serious ligament damage, which is obviously good news for us – so the nation can stop praying.”

That last comment was a reference to what Ferguson described as the mood of English football being “one of panic” once Rooney had gone down, in obvious pain, seconds before Ivica Olic scored Bayern’s winning goal in the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.

But Ferguson admitted he had also feared the worst for a player who has suffered three metatarsal breaks in the past six years.

“You just hope that when you send a player for a scan or an X-ray you are going to get some good news out of it, and we have got good news out of it,” he said.

“It is not as serious as we first feared, and the important thing is that he will be back before the end of the season. We think he will be out for two to three weeks.”

In the meantime, Dimitar Berbatov will take over as the spearhead of the team’s attack. Michael Owen has already been ruled out for the season, as has Daniel Welbeck, but Ferguson can call upon the fit-again Federico Macheda, who will be on the substitutes’ bench today.

“We don’t want injuries, particularly to our best players,” Gary Neville, the United captain, said. “Wayne will be a big miss for us because he has been in such great form but, in the past, people have always stood up to the plate and contributed.

“We have had key players out for big matches before and still won them. We have gone into finals without two or three major players and come through it. Chelsea have players missing too. They don’t have Michael Essien or Ashley Cole. All teams get injuries and suspensions on the run-in. You have to cope.”

United are one point ahead of Chelsea as they aim to establish two records by winning a fourth successive league title and their 19th in total.

“If one team wins tomorrow, it is a significant step forward for them,” Ferguson said. “If we win, we go four points clear with five games left. If Chelsea win, they are two points ahead of us. A draw, nothing changes and it will be very tight until the end of the season.”

The championship has not been settled on goal difference since Arsenal won in 1989, but part of Ferguson’s reason for missing Rooney is that he believes it could come into play this season.

“With Chelsea putting seven past Aston Villa last weekend, it has turned the whole goal difference upside down. We had a nice advantage before that but it is only two goals and that can change in a couple of games.”

United, nonetheless, may have to improve significantly from their midweek performance in Germany. “We just could not keep possession of the ball in the way we normally do,” Ferguson said. “It was ridiculous. I think there are goals there (without Rooney), but first of all we have got to improve our performance level because we were well under our normal form and it is difficult to say why.”

Owen Hargreaves, who has been out for 20 months with knee problems, and John O’Shea, sidelined since Ireland’s World Cup exit in November, are both in contention for a place on the bench.