Van Gaal wants Rooney to return with a bang against Norwich City
The England international could return alongside Ander Herrera for their
visit of the Canaries, as he nears his 500th appearance for the club in
all competitions
Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal wants captain Wayne Rooney to mark his 500th appearance for the club with a goal, should he return against Norwich City.
Rooney picked up an ankle injury against Leicester City and missed the games with West Ham, Wolfsburg and AFC Bournemouth.
The England skipper has trained fully during the week, along with Ander Herrera, who is recovering from a hamstring problem, and Van Gaal hopes he can play a part in Saturday's game at Old Trafford.
"Three or four players are coming back," he told reporters in his press-conference.
"They have trained this week, Rooney, Herrera have trained a full week. But Herrera hasn't played for four weeks, and that's different.
"Rooney is less, two weeks, so it's possible he can play, but we have to wait and see. We have players who have trained only one day.
"In these circumstances, sometimes you have to take risks. What's the same is the preparation. We always prepare the qualities of our opponents and what we have to do, we explain and the players apply that."
Van Gaal is eager to see Rooney hit the ground running when he does return, with his next appearance set to be his 500th in a United shirt in all competitions.
When asked if Rooney would come back refreshed after his absence, Van Gaal said: "You never know. It's different for every player. But, of course, I've rotated a lot this season because of the Premier League, the rhythm of the games.
"But of course you see players are coming back more fresh because they haven't played such a heavy game.
"I hope that, when he plays, he scores a goal, because it's a big day for him because it's his 500th game. Not too many players have reached that record."
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