Wayne Rooney was happy to be back on the pitch again after a one-month spell on the sidelines due to injury, while Darren Fletcher admitted he was proud to lead Manchester United out in their League Cup win against Newcastle United.

Anderson and Tom Cleverley scored for the Old Trafford club in a 2-1 victory, which saw both Fletcher, as captain, and Rooney make a return to the starting XI.

"It's just over four weeks now since I last played and I'm delighted to have the time on the pitch," Rooney, who had not played since suffering a nasty cut on his thigh against Fulham in United's second English Premier League game of the season, told Sky Sports.

"It's always difficult, your first game back after a few weeks out, but it's great for me to get the minutes under my belt and hopefully that will benefit me.

"It was a good run out for me and I'm obviously delighted. Hopefully there's a lot more games to come."

Cleverley scored his first ever goal for United, and Rooney revealed Sir Alex Ferguson had said a few words to the young midfielder after he missed a chance to break the deadlock while clear on goal in the first half.

"Tom obviously had that miss in the first half and the manager wasn't too pleased with that at halftime," Rooney said.

"But Tom's then gone out and scored a nice goal. I'm delighted for the two of them but especially Tom as it's his first goal."

There was a point in time when several reports suggested Fletcher would never return to the game, after suffering from a chronic bowel syndrome. But the Scottish international proved all doubters wrong, by captaining the United side to victory. "It's my first time as captain of Manchester United," he told the club's official website. "It's a fantastic moment, something you dream about.

"Obviously, having done it for my country means a lot but to do it for United as well (is incredible). However, the most important thing, despite all these things like me coming back and being captain, was for us to win the game.

"I thought we played very well. We had a diamond formation in midfield and passed the ball well, creating some good chances. We were unfortunate not to go in a couple of goals ahead at halftime and, when we went 2-0 up, we conceded a goal and it was a little bit difficult towards the end.

"They had a lot of high balls in the box but we defended it reasonably well, have seen it out and got a victory."

Fletcher was all praise for Rooney, who had a good game playing behind the strikers, but the veteran was especially impressed by the United youngsters Michael Keane and Scott Wootton.

"Wayne was slotting in behind the strikers and enjoying it," he said. "He was getting on the ball, pinging it wide left and right and using his experience. He's a fantastic player with great imagination and enthusiasm and it's great for United to have a lot of players competing for places. It's going to bring out the best in everyone.

"The two center-backs were talking to me the whole game and for two youngsters playing against good strikers they were fantastic and it was a fine performance for them. I think it was a good team performance.

"It's brilliant (to see the kids' progress). It's what this club is all about. You're prepared for that at a young age and to finally make your debut at Old Trafford, all of them performed fantastically and showed they're capable and they're ready. It bodes well for the future.

"It's obviously great to be back. But the most important thing was winning the match."