FABIO CAPELLO sent Wayne Rooney back from his World Cup misery in a 'dishevelled' state, according to one of his Manchester United bosses.

The England striker endured a bitterly disappointing finals in South Africa as he failed to find the net in four matches.

That was part of a 13-match drought - the longest of his career - which finally ended with his penalty against West Ham on Saturday.

And United's assistant boss Mike Phelan claims Rooney, 24, was not himself when he returned to Old Trafford for the new season.

Phelan admits the striker is still not fully fit.

He said: "Wayne came back to us a little bit dishevelled from his England exploits - and he is not 100 per cent fit yet. Now he has got a couple of games with his national team and that will possibly help him and he'll come back to us a bit better.

"He is still short on certain aspects of his game but as long as you keep your head up and keep persevering, things will happen."

Phelan hopes the penalty Rooney scored against the Hammers will lead to a run of goals.

He added: "Strikers cannot score every week, much as they would like to. Hopefully now he can relax, enjoy his football and carry on from where he left off.

"There was only ever going to be one person who took that penalty. His overall game was better against West Ham, he looked stronger."

Meanwhile team-mate Owen Hargreaves is facing 'crunch time' in his battle to save his United career.

Boss Alex Ferguson must decide by 5pm tomorrow whether to gamble on the injury-ravaged midfielder in his 25-man squad.

If he does not, then it would mean the former England star, 29 - who is out of contract in the summer - will not feature in league games until January at the earliest.

He has spent the last seven weeks undergoing more work on his knees with Colorado-based specialist Dr Richard Steadman.

And Ferguson recently admitted he has no real idea when the two-year fitness battle will be over.

Fergie said: "There is no limit on the number of players under the age of 21, so I have plenty of room for manoeuvre.

"There's only one issue really and that is whether I can afford to hand one of the 25 places to Owen as he continues to battle for full fitness.

"Once the squad is named, you cannot change until the next transfer window. It's crunch time this week, with the deadline falling at 5pm Wednesday."