Rooney dropped to bench

England - Sir Alex Ferguson fuelled rumours of a rift with Wayne Rooney by leaving the Manchester United striker on the bench for Saturday's Premier League clash with West Bromwich Albion.

Rooney sparked talk of a row with Ferguson in mid-week when he disagreed with the United manager's claims that he had missed his club's last two matches due to an ankle injury.

Ferguson had used the injury as the reason he left Rooney out of his side for a Champions League win in Valencia and a goalless draw at Sunderland.

But the star showed he is fully fit by playing 90 minutes of England's 0-0 draw with Montenegro on Tuesday and underlined the point with his comments to reporters after the match.

Rooney, who has scored just once this season, has endured a miserable time of late due to lurid allegations about his private life and it was suggested in some quarters that Ferguson had dropped his leading striker to make a point about his behaviour.

The former Everton player is yet to sign a new contract with United and, with Real Madrid reportedly interested in signing him, Ferguson's decision to bench Rooney is sure to ignite controversy.

In Rooney's absence, Javier Hernandez and Dimitar Berbatov were chosen to start up front against Albion at Old Trafford.