Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.
English football club Manchester United were at risk of losing four consecutive matches on Saturday for the first time since October 1961, having been beaten by Tottenham Hotspur, Swansea City and Sunderland in their first three games of 2014.
Rooney was not on the starting list for the Premier League game at home to Swansea late on Saturday after being sent away for warm weather training to help him recover from a groin problem.
But he called on club supporters to give their full support to the team and manager David Moyes as they sought to avenge the previous weekend's 2-1 loss to the Welsh club in the FA Cup.
"The crowd can help the team's confidence massively so hopefully everyone will get behind the lads and stay with them and the manager throughout the game," he wrote on his official Facebook page.
Moyes says Rooney should return in time for next weekend's trip to Chelsea, but his strike partner Robin van Persie remains sidelined with a thigh injury.
Former manager Alex Ferguson was expected to attend the Swansea game. Moyes had dismissed suggestions that the presence of his storied predecessor at United's matches was an unwelcome distraction.
"It tells you that people don't know me and don't know Sir Alex," Moyes told the club's in-house television station, MUTV.
"People are saying it because they have no idea about how it works. Sir Alex has been fantastic. He has been incredibly supportive and is only there to help me.
"I have a conversation with him when I need it and I tend to see him for a minute or two after the games. I have found him great and it has been the same with Sir Bobby [Charlton] and Bryan Robson." – Sapa-AFP