Rooney: I Was 'Lucky'

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has revealed that the badly gashed leg he suffered against Fulham two weeks ago could have been far more serious and was close to severing an artery.

Rooney, 26, sustained a serious cut after being innocently caught by the stray studs of Hugo Rodallega, and he faces up to two months out while he recovers and builds his fitness back up. He hopes to be back within a month but the position of the cut, above his knee, means training will be almost impossible until it has healed.

And the England international insisted that the medical staff allowed him to watch them tend to the wound even though they advised against it.

"I was quite lucky it didn't cut my muscle," said Rooney. "But I was told it was just one millimetre away from severing an artery. It could have been a lot worse so thank God for that. I could have been in serious trouble.

"The doctors said a lot of players could have fainted [with the injury]. They tried to cover it up from me in the dressing room and put something in to stop it being infected, but I told them I wanted to watch.

"Thankfully, their prompt action prevented serious and possible lasting damage."