He did not want to talk too much about the fact that his number one striker finally ended his 13-match goal drought against West Ham.

Rooney belted home the first-half penalty that set United on their way to a 3-0 defeat of West Ham at Old Trafford on Saturday night.

It was Rooney's first goal since March, a period of time that has included a niggling ankle injury and that deflating World Cup campaign.

But, although Ferguson claimed the 24-year-old is still to reach full fitness after his summer exertions, he believes he is making a vital contribution to the Old Trafford cause.

"Strikers want to score," stressed Ferguson.

"But it is Wayne's performance that we should be talking about.

"He was full of life and energy. He worked his socks off.

"He needs games but the 90 minutes will bring him on."

Sevilla coach Antonio Alvarez insists his team have already forgotten about their 4-0 hammering by Barcelona at the weekend as they look to book their place in the Champions League group stage.

The Primera Division outfit will look to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Portuguese side Braga in the second leg of their play-off, just three days after their Supercopa thumping at the Nou Camp.

"We have the biggest game of the season tomorrow," Alvarez told Sevilla's official website.

"We are ready and everything has been forgotten from Saturday. We are just thinking about tomorrow."

Strikers Frederic Kanoute and Luis Fabiano both suffered minor knocks against Barca but are set to be fit to face Braga.

One player Sevilla will not be able to rely on though is defender Sebastien Squillaci, who looks sets to seal a move to Arsenal.

"He has found a team and prefers to leave," added lvarez. "Obviously we are moving to bring another player in."

Gareth Barry put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute, Carlos Tevez claimed he had got the faintest of touches on Micah Richards' header seven minutes after the interval and the Argentinian converted a penalty.

Considering Liverpool regard City as their main rivals for a place in the top four the result could prove to be hugely significant - even this early in the season.

However, City boss Roberto Mancini was wary of reading too much into the outcome.

"I thought we played well. We need time to gel and improve because we were missing four or five important players," he said.

"But the team played with a good mentality. If they play with a good mentality I think we can beat every team.

"We beat a strong team like Liverpool, who can fight for the title.

"This win helped us believe in ourselves and this is important."

The match was Sheikh Mansour's first visit to Eastlands, having taken over almost two years ago, and Mancini was congratulated by him after the game.

The Russian hit-man believes that the London side must improve on their performances against their title rivals in order to win the Premier League this season.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: "My opinion is if you look at the table then we were close but when we met Chelsea and Manchester United they beat us.

"I would like to see this season [how] we will manage to fight against big teams."

Arshavin also backed the young players in his squad to come good this season.

"All the young players have experience now.

"Of course, every one of them has talent," Arshavin stated.