United can cope without Rooney - Vidic

Nemanja Vidic is confident Manchester United can cope without Wayne Rooney, who is reportedly set for a two-to-four week spell on the sidelines with an unconfirmed sprained right ankle.

That would rule Rooney out of Saturday's crucial Premier League encounter with Chelsea, plus the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich, but - in a best-case scenario - the 24-year-old would be available for a semi-final meeting with either Lyon or Bordeaux should United overcome Bayern's 2-1 first-leg advantage.

In the meantime Dimitar Berbatov must shoulder the striking responsibility, and Vidic said: "We showed this season, we play as a team. It is not just about one man. Definitely Wayne Rooney has had a great season. He is unbelievable, one of the best in the world. But sometimes big players are missing, and others need to be ready."

As Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck are out for the season, unless manager Sir Alex Ferguson places all his trust in rookies Federico Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf, the 'other' in this instance, will have to be Berbatov.

Bought from Tottenham in 2008 for £30.75million, the former Spurs striker has struggled to win over his critics, largely due to his relaxed style of play.

Yet United do have a pretty good record when Berbatov has started games for them and at both Wolves and Bolton recently, the Bulgarian has proved adept at producing the kind of gritty performance Rooney has perfected in that lone striking role.

"Dimitar had a great game against Bolton on Saturday. He is a great footballer," said Vidic. "He scored twice himself and can set up goals for other players as well.

"We have a good squad. We just need to believe in ourselves and believe in each other."