Rio Ferdinand believes Michael Owen's first goal for Manchester United will kick-start a scoring spree.

Owen has not been happy at the assessment of his first few United appearances.

Although he was top scorer on the club's Far East tour, Owen had not scored in six matches prior to Saturday's visit to Wigan and some critics were already claiming Sir Alex Ferguson had made a mistake bringing the 29-year-old to Old Trafford.

Owen rounded on his accusers at the weekend and has now been backed by Ferdinand, who was at the DW Stadium to watch the Red Devils romp to a 5-0 win.

"He has been hammered yet he has not even played a full 90 minutes," Ferdinand told MUTV.

"People have said he was finished and was not worth the risk, yet he scored with probably his hardest chance of the season.

"But I think that goal on Saturday will catapult him towards scoring a few more."

While United have to somehow make up for the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo's phenomenal goals output, Ferdinand has faith in all his team's strikers.

Good friend Wayne Rooney has hit the ground running and is already up to four for the campaign, while Dimitar Berbatov also broke his duck at Wigan.

"People say certain things about Dimitar but he is always the first into training and the last to leave," said Ferdinand.

"He is a dedicated professional who wants to score goals for Manchester United.

"Maybe he is not like Wayne in the sense of being 100mph all the time. He is quite relaxed and does things in his own time. But you do not win the league with 11 players who are all the same."

Ferdinand confirmed he hopes to be fit in time to face Tottenham at White Hart Lane on September 12.

It means he will definitely miss England's friendly with Slovenia on September 5, plus the World Cup qualifier with Croatia four days later when victory will be enough to seal a place at South Africa 2010.

"I had never been injured before last season," said Ferdinand, recalling the back and ankle problems which kept him out for extended periods.

"I still played 45 games but it was the first time I have had time off and I found it really frustrating."

Whether 13 years at the top is starting to catch up with Ferdinand remains to be seen.

However, he feels there is no chance of either him - or anyone else - emulating Paulo Maldini by carrying on into their 40s.

Maldini finally called time on his stellar career in the summer having celebrated his 41st birthday.

While Ferdinand acknowledges the Italian legend's immense talent, he does not think it would have been possible in England.

"You could not play to 41 in the Premier League," he said. "Games are a lot slower in Italy and they don't play as many.

"When anyone comes here from another country they always say they can't believe how fast it is.

"It takes a couple of years off your career."

Ferdinand will be a spectator again on Saturday when United tackle high-flying Arsenal hoping their Champions League tussle with Celtic has taken some of the edge off the Gunners' fine form.

Victory would allow the Red Devils to take a certain amount of satisfaction from the first four games of the season, even if the defeat at Burnley has left a bit of a stain.

And Ferdinand will be happy enough if September 1 passes with no further additions to the squad, even though Ferguson has been linked with bids for Arjen Robben and Luka Modric in the last few days.

"The manager has so much intelligence and experience," he said.

"He is not looking for a like-for-like replacement for Ronaldo. He wants players who can push the team further on.

"If we go into the season with what we have now I would sit very comfortably in our changing room.

"We have been successful in the last few years and we are not a one-man team."