Sir Alex Ferguson is backing Wayne Rooney to fire Manchester United towards Premiership glory.

With Henrik Larsson back in Sweden, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer both on the injured list and Alan Smith still to make a league start this term, Rooney is the Red Devils' only fully fit striker for tomorrow's Old Trafford encounter with Bolton.

A subdued force for much of the campaign, certainly in comparison to Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney has recently showed encouraging signs of a return to top form.

The England star broke a seven-game barren sequence with his goal at Middlesbrough last weekend, then added another two in the UEFA charity game in midweek.

And, with a few impressive performances on the training ground behind him as well, Ferguson has no doubts over Rooney's ability to spearhead the league leaders' attack.

"Wayne is like everyone else who scores goals, he wants to score all the time," said Ferguson.

"That is their mantra. They feel scoring is the most important thing. There is nothing wrong with that.

"He doesn't get down and he doesn't dwell on things because he is such a bubbly character. But I have seen his confidence coming back.

"He has been alive in training and I am sure he won't be worried about being our only striker."

Ferguson knows he can rely on Rooney's willingness to play a full part, not just against Bolton, but the FA Cup quarter-final replay with Middlesbrough 48 hours later.

In fact, with so many men missing, the United boss has little alternative other than to stick with the same squad for both games.

Among the casualties, in addition to his forwards, are Edwin van der Sar, Darren Fletcher and Mikael Silvestre, while Paul Scholes is only one game into the three-match ban he picked up for his red card at Liverpool.

Happily, Patrice Evra is back from a calf problem while Ferguson confirmed reports claiming Rio Ferdinand is suffering from cracked ribs are wide of the mark.

"We have a few injuries at the moment but we coped when we had some at the start of the season and we will cope with it again," said the Scot.

Although John O'Shea's injury-time winner at Liverpool took United 12 points clear, Chelsea have since halved the deficit by emerging victorious from their two games in hand.

The results appear to have given the back-to-back champions a momentum they have not enjoyed at any other stage during the campaign, even if nothing much has changed.

However, Ferguson is determined to spend as little time as possible assessing the form of Jose Mourinho's men, preferring instead to concentrate on his own side in the knowledge that, because of their vastly superior goal difference, seven wins from the last nine games will be enough to clinch the title.

He said: "People think Chelsea will go the whole way but why should we worry about them?

"We need to keep collecting the points and cutting the games off. Hopefully it will get us to where we want to go.

"Obviously, every game is a cup final-type situation but the players have shown they have the composure to handle it.

"They have the confidence in their game and, as we saw against Fulham and Liverpool, they have the guts and determination to see it through too."

Ryan Giggs is expected to partner Rooney up front, with Ronaldo and Park Ji-sung occupying the wide slots in midfield against a Bolton side well placed to land a UEFA Cup slot and who are not unused to winning at Old Trafford.