Ferdinand out of cup final

Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of Sunday's Carling Cup final between Manchester United and Aston Villa.

United boss Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed after his side's 3-0 win over West Ham that his star defender was unable to make an expected return from suspension due to a back twinge.

The injury also seems likely to deny Ferdinand the opportunity of being England captain for next week's friendly against Egypt at Wembley.

"He tweaked his back in training and he won't be ready for Sunday," said Ferguson.

"It is unfortunate for him that he's going to miss a couple of games."

That setback could rob Ferdinand of the chance to lead his country into their final friendly before Fabio Capello names his provisional World Cup squad after John Terry was stripped of the captaincy.

"Rio has been training great," Ferguson added. "There have been no mishaps at all.

"But when you get these twinges you can't take a chance."

United suffered another injury blow as Brazilian midfielder Anderson, brought in for his first appearance for over a month, was forced off early with a knee injury.

Those fitness problems only partially overshadowed another two-goal contribution from Wayne Rooney as United bounced back from Saturday's shock 3-1 defeat by Everton.

That took Rooney to 27 goals for the season - 15 fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo managed when he was crowned world player of the year two seasons ago.

"He has been watching my videos," laughed Ferguson of Rooney's two headers.

"They were two excellent headers, although there was also some good play from Antonio Valencia."

Michael Owen came off the bench to seal a victory that took United back to within a point of leaders Chelsea.

"We had to win," said Ferguson. "The players showed a great attitude, and they had to because West Ham have been doing well recently.

"There will be changes on Sunday now," added the United boss.

"I have done that all along in the competition and I will have to look at the situation to make sure we have a fresh team."