Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is confident that Cristiano Ronaldo's recovery is on schedule and that he will be back in action by October.

The Portugal international, who has stated he will stay at Old Trafford after a summer of speculation linking him with Real Madrid, is currently sidelined as he recovers from ankle surgery.



The star winger, who scored an astonishing 42 goals in all competitions last season, is back at the club's Carrington training ground undergoing rehabilitation under the watchful eye of United's medical team.

Ferguson revealed that in three weeks Ronaldo will start building up his fitness before rejoining the rest of the squad in training.


He said: "Cristiano has been doing excellently. He is well ahead of schedule. The specialist was surprised the condition he was in.

"The next three weeks he will have rehab and then the next part will be endurance work and serious running before he goes into the football side with us.

"There has been no problem, his progress has been great. He has never missed a session morning or afternoon. We are pencilling him in for the beginning of October."

And the Scot believes that the prodigiously gifted youngster can improve on his mesmeric displays of last season.

He added: "At the start of last season I was asked if Ronaldo could score more than 25 goals and I replied I was looking for improvement.

"Improvement can come in different ways for Ronaldo this season. 42 goals is a target - it is still possible for him to achieve that given the talent of the boy and his goalscoring ability. But you have to say it is a big target.

"Where you will see the improvement is in his authority and decision-making, which improves with experience. Experience gives you a lot of things - timing especially."


Ferguson also intends to be 'fairer' with Wayne Rooney this season, after often playing him out of position last term.

"We have to be fairer to Wayne this season," said the Scot. "He is such a willing performer that you are always tempted to listen to him at times.

"He says he could play centre-midfield, centre-half, goalkeeper. If you ask him to do a job, he will - no problem.

"That is the kind of individual you are dealing with. He has that great desire to play anywhere."