The England forward had been in major doubt with a knee injury he aggravated on international duty last week. But he lived up to his reputation as a prodigiously quick healer and is ready to be unleashed against the Italian giants, much to the relief of his manager.

"Rooney's fit, I'm glad to say," said Ferguson, who had predicted at the weekend that he would be obliged to start with Dimitar Berbatov as a lone striker.

"On Friday I didn't think he had a chance."

Rooney's importance to United in the wake of Cristiano Ronaldo's pre-season departure was underlined by his performance in the first leg in the San Siro, his two headed goals helping United claim a 3-2 advantage that leaves the second round tie tilted in their favour but still very much in the balance.

"The form Wayne is in at the moment, no matter what game he plays in, he'd be a threat to anyone," Ferguson said.

The Scot admitted that Clarence Seedorf's late goal for Milan last month had left the Italians in a much more favourable position than they would have been had United held out for a 3-1 win.

"It is certainly an open tie, no question," he added. "It is going to be a great game of football and a very open game, I think.

"We hope to win the tie by our own attacking ambitions and Milan have to score so that should make it a real open match."

Although Milan are obliged to score at least twice to go through, Ferguson insists he will not instruct his players to try and protect their advantage.

"I don't think we are very good at defending leads to be honest. We are going to play our normal game and that includes attacking," he said.

"I don't think we can take 3-2 as a bye into the next stage. We have to accept it is going to be a very difficult match for us tomorrow."

Rooney's rapid recovery will have been particularly welcome for Ferguson given the restrictions on his options in other areas.

Ryan Giggs is still sidelined after breaking his arm, Michael Carrick is suspended and England defender Wes Brown has joined an injury list already featuring Brazilian midfielder Anderson, back-up centreback Jonny Evans and Irish utility man John O'Shea.

History, in general terms, will be on United's side on Wednesday. They have never been knocked out of the competition when they have returned to Old Trafford with a lead at the halfway stage of a tie.

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After losing game one of the five-match series in Napier on Wednesday in a fiery clash in which Australia's Mitchell Johnson was fined for head-butting the helmet of Kiwi batsman Scott Styris, the tourists were all fired-up for game two on Saturday.

And while the hostile Kiwi fans did their best to put Mitchell Johnson off his game, they were unsuccessful with Johnson playing a starring role with four wickets in Australia's 12-run win.

Australia scored 7-273 powered by half-centuries from Mike Hussey, Cameron White and Brad Haddin.

In a rain-interrupted match, New Zealand were chasing a revised target of 266 from 45 overs and almost got there with a sell-out crowd of 13,500 behind them.

Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori was last man out for 70, bowled by Ryan Harris, as the Kiwis scored 253 in 43.2 overs.

Johnson, who needed extra security while fielding on the boundary, was called a "wanker" by the fans all day long.

The emotional quick took 4-51 from nine overs and Harris grabbed 3-34 as Australia levelled the five-game series 1-1.

Ponting said he wasn't bothered by Johnson's attempts to interact with the hostile crowd.

"If it had affected the way he played tonight then I'd be worried about it," he said.

"It looks like it actually spurred him on tonight if anything.

"For him to come out and bowl the way he did was really good."

Ponting says Australia's game still needs some "fine-tuning" before the third match in Hamilton on Tuesday.

"It wasn't a great performance by any stretch of the imagination but we did enough to win," he said.

The skipper also paid tribute to the tight bowling of Harris late in the New Zealand innings, taking 3-34.

That's what we expect from Ryan, to be able to do that at the end," Ponting said.

"Ryan was a little bit off with his yorkers in the last game.

"We worked hard on that at training yesterday.

"The way he thought his way through bowling to Vettori tonight was very good."

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Although excited to play off for some silverware at Etihad Stadium, Lyon said the Saints did not need to impress as much as they did when they reached the pre-season final two years ago.

"In '08 we'd come off a poor year and missed the finals (in 2007) and we played Adelaide and it was really nice to get across the line," Lyon said after the Saints thrashed Fremantle in Saturday night's semi-final at Etihad Stadium.

"It was 38 degrees and we still managed our players, but it was nice to go interstate and get a win.

"This one's at home and I think as a club we've got a bit more momentum and a bit more confidence about what we stand for and how we play.

"I think we'll go pretty strong, but we'll have to balance up the risk versus reward at times, particularly with player management."

In contrast to the 2008 pre-season, St Kilda are coming off a great year, as they won the minor premiership in 2009 only to be pipped by Geelong in the grand final.

Captain Nick Riewoldt is expected to return along with fellow star Brendon Goddard after both were rested on Saturday night, while Lyon said ruckman Michael Gardiner was also a chance to return from knee soreness.

But midfield star Lenny Hayes will miss the clash after he injured his calf against Fremantle.

The Saints expect Hayes and utility Jason Blake, who was withdrawn before Saturday night's game as a precaution because of back tightness, to both be available for round one.

Lyon said the Saints were pleased to reach the final and play another top team in the Bulldogs, whom St Kilda beat in last year's preliminary final in the season proper.

"We're excited to be in a quality game and it can help with membership and some prizemoney and we stay in Melbourne, we don't travel and play in front of what should be a full house," Lyon said.

"So there's a lot of positives if you exclude the Lenny hiccup."

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