Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Wayne Rooney after the Manchester United striker shrugged off an ankle injury to play a key role in Saturday's 2-0 win at Blackburn.

The England international was at his imperious best at Ewood Park as he set up United's first goal for Wes Brown and then scored a stunning second of his own.

Rooney's dynamic display came in front of Fabio Capello and Ferguson concedes it was his player's best performance of the season to date.

"That was his (Rooney's) best performance of the season for us," said Ferguson. "Blackburn had to gamble and we capitalised."

At the game's conclusion Paul Ince complained that United's first goal should not have stood as he felt his goalkeeper Jason Brown had been impeded by Nemanja Vidic.

Ferguson did not share his former player's perspective: "The ball was in the air long enough. It was his ball and he should be taking it.

"They obviously feel Nemanja collided with him but the keeper should have collected it anyway and he didn't."

Rooney will now be asked to ensure England gain World Cup victories over Kazakhstan and Belarus in World Cup combat over the next fortnight.