MANCHESTER, England (AFP) -- Sir Alex Ferguson has set Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a 20-goal target this season after saluting the Norwegian striker for his remarkable comeback from career-threatening knee injuries.

Solskjaer, who missed the best part of two years after a succession of setbacks, faces Danish leaders FC Copenhagen, managed by his former international teammate Stale Solbakken, in the Champions League at Old Trafford today having already scored five goals this season.

"Ole never doubted himself when he was out and whenever I spoke to him he was always confident he would be back," said Ferguson.

"I see an improvement from him every week. He hasn't missed a training session since he returned in preseason and that says a lot about him considering what he's been through. "He's got five goals at this moment in time, but I think he could give us 20 quite easily."

Solskjaer, set to start against Copenhagen, is guaranteed his place in United folklore after scoring in the dramatic 1999 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

He admitted there had been times over the last two years when his thoughts had drifted to retirement, but said the encouragement of his teammates and manager had helped him come through the most testing challenge of his career.

"I had a couple of minutes when I looked at myself in the mirror and asked whether I was fooling myself, maybe I should finish," said Solskjaer. "But it's not right being negative and I soon snapped out of it. I don't think I ever went to bed thinking I was never going to make it."

United are one of six teams in the Champions League with maximum points from their opening two group matches and will virtually secure a place in the last 16 if they defeat five-times Danish champions Copenhagen, who have managed just one point so far.

Ferguson is set to keep faith with Wayne Rooney after his encouraging performance at the weekend.

The England striker has come under fire from critics for scoring just twice this season and has not found the net in his last 11 outings in the Champions League proper.

But Ferguson said he saw enough from Rooney in the 3-1 win at Wigan to suggest he is close to returning to his best form.

"Wayne's no different to Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in that he wants to be scoring all the time," added Ferguson.

"When they are not scoring they have their own little concerns.

"When Wayne hit the bar on Saturday I said to myself 'that's the kind of luck he has got at the moment'.

"But his ability and work rate are why we shouldn't concern ourselves about him. "I'm very confident about the boy."

Cristiano Ronaldo could feature against Copenhagen after missing the Wigan game with an ankle injury. The Portuguese winger returned to training on Monday, along with Gary Neville, who also sat out Saturday's match with a calf problem.

However, Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze has still not recovered from a hamstring injury although he is hoping to make next Sunday's Premiership match with Liverpool. French defender Mikael Silvestre is set to return to training on Wednesday after missing the last month with a metatarsal injury.