Rooney misses Sunderland clash after suffering training injury

Manchester United is without captain Wayne Rooney for the Boxing Day visit of Sunderland, as the 31-year-old was not included in the matchday squad for the contest.

Manager Jose Mourinho explained that Rooney, who will remain one goal shy of equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's record of 249 tallies for the club, "felt something in training" on Sunday, and the decision was made to leave him out of the squad as to not make the problem worse.

The nature of the ailment is unknown.

United, slowly rounding into form, will be looking for its fourth consecutive Premier League victory, and will hope to do so at the expense of former bench boss David Moyes, who makes his return to Old Trafford.