Welsh Dwarf to be patient

MICHAEL Owen has been issued with a "be patient" message from Sir Alex Ferguson - but the United boss still expects a bagful of goals from the striker. Ferguson says his United debut in the tournament is set to be on hold with a bench seat in Istanbul against Besiktas tonight his best hope. The stop-start opening to the campaign has meant Fergie has been unable to get any continuity for his first choice spearhead of Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov. But the Anglo-Bulgarian axis is set to be given time to bed in at Owen's expense. "Owen has not been involved and I explained that to him," said Sir Alex. "The season has not really started because of the internationals and we are not really playing Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday yet. "So Owen doesn't come in to the equation because we are trying to get a blend of Berbatov and Rooney. But he will play plenty of games, just maybe not early. But he will get us 15-20 goals this season." Owen and Berbatov have managed just one goal apiece so far but Rooney is storming ahead in the Old Trafford goalscoring charts.