Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is set to miss the start of the Premier League season because of a virus he picked up during his club's trip to Nigeria, manager Sir Alex Ferguson said on Tuesday.

"I doubt we'll get Rooney fit for the start of the season with this virus he has had... It's a bad virus, he has not been training," Ferguson told a news conference broadcast on Sky Sports News.

Rooney has not trained since returning from Nigeria, where Premier League champions United played FA Cup winners Portsmouth in a friendly in Abuja on July 27. Rooney did not play in that match.

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