RUUD van Nistelrooy's 523-minute goal drought has become a cause for concern among Manchester United's support.

It's the Dutchman's longest barren spell in his near four-season spell at Old Trafford.

Since returning against AC Milan in February following his November Achilles tendon injury, he has made seven appearances and has been substituted in his last two games against Fulham and Blackburn Rovers.

The 2003 Premiership Golden Boot winner has never been out of the division's top three list of leading scorers in his time in England.

He has been the Reds No 1 hit man in his first three campaigns and has twice been UEFA's Champions League leading striker in 2002 and 2003, steamrollering Denis Law's three-decade long stint as Old Trafford's most prolific European scorer last season.

A burst of eight European goals sandwiched between his hernia operation and Achilles problem means he's still the Champions League top dog for the time being.

But van Nistelrooy only has one Premiership goal from open play all season and that came in November at West Bromwich on the eve of being forced to concede defeat to a calf problem that grew into his Achilles nightmare.

Now there are 59 names above him in the Premiership scorers list.

United's collective goalscoring slump has highlighted van Nistelrooy's struggle to find his touch.

Stalemate

Sir Alex Ferguson's threat that FA Cup semi-final places were in danger following the 0-0 stalemate with Blackburn last Saturday was seized on in some quarters as a pointed message to the 27-year-old Dutchman.

However, some paid-up members of United's ex-strikers' union are backing Ruud to the hilt.

Nobody suffered more flak over a United goal drought than Garry Birtles. Dave Sexton's 1980 '1.25m purchase went almost a year before breaking his league duck.

"Ruud is still the best in the world, bar none," Garry said.

"Strikers have to be the sharpest player on the pitch. They can't get away with anything less because they do their job at the business end of the pitch. It is the hardest job and that's invariably why they get paid more than others and why you have to pay more for them.

"No matter who you are, you can't step back into the pace of a first-team match and pick it up straight after you've been injured.

"I had a stress fracture of the pelvis when I was at United and had to rest for six weeks. To try and recapture your sharpness as soon as you return when your team-mates and opponents have been playing regularly week in, week out is very tough.

"But I have no doubts that Ruud will be back scoring again at some stage and will be terrorising defenders again.

"The only way to get through it is to play on. His link-up play with Wayne Rooney is still good and he is still doing a major part of his job.

"He is still getting into positions. He's not hiding or shirking and has so much quality that it will return and we'll all wonder what we were worrying about.

"It can all be down to a little bit of luck. I remember my debut for United at Stoke and I went around the goalkeeper struck a shot towards goal but it was a wet night and it slowed up on the pitch and one of their defenders slid in and cleared it. If that had gone in, who knows what would have happened.

"It's similar to Ruud at the moment. If he had managed to score against AC Milan on his return with that late chance then this debate would not be going on.

"I remember having a bad time in front of goal at Forest and Brian Clough just said to me: `Hit the target. Make sure you put it in that area between the white stick.'

"Those words came back to me when I was racing in against Southampton at the City Ground soon after, still searching for that elusive goal. I did exactly as Cloughie said. I didn't do anything clever. I kept it simple and on target and I scored. The more confident stuff comes later."

Frank Stapleton believes the hullabaloo surrounding Ruud's famine is nonsense.

Sinister

"There is nothing scientific or sinister about why it has gone wrong. He's been out for three months and people expect him to pick it up again straightaway. But it doesn't always work like that," he said.

"Ruud's sharpness levels are nowhere near what they should be and that's understandable. But we all know he is quality and for anybody to question him just because of this spell is ridiculous.

"You might not see the best of Ruud now until the last few matches of this season or maybe not until the beginning of next term.

"It is all about sharpness and confidence. Sometimes when you return from an injury it can happen straightaway, especially if you get an early goal. Other times for no reason if you don't score it can take a while. When you lose a bit of sharpness you suddenly find that half-yard needed to get ahead of a defender isn't there. But it will come back.

"One day in training might turn it for Ruud. You can't put your finger on it but at the moment he needs something to go in off his shin or backside or get deflected off you.

"The longer you go on, the harder it becomes. But then something can just turn it all around again. You score one, maybe even a scruffy one and you are on your way again.

"Because he's United's major goalscorer too many people are looking to blame him for the drop in goals. You have to take criticism because sometimes that can be healthy.

"But Ruud is quality and he'll always be a danger in the team. He'll be stronger mentally when he comes out of this.

"I am sure Alex won't leave him out because even on a bad day he can do something. You have to play through it. One day you can't hit a barn door and next they are flying in all over the place.

"Nobody is immune from it. I remember in my playing days Kenny Dalglish went a whole year at Liverpool without scoring. You could never have imagined that from a great player like Kenny. But he did.

"That was a different story though because Kenny's drought came out of the blue. We know the core of Ruud's trouble is that he's been out injured. He'll get it back."

Do you still have confidence in Van Nistelrooy? Have your say.