´Hopefully I´ll be on my own soon!´ – Rooney wants United history after equalling Charlton record

Wayne Rooney has now set his sights on breaking Manchester United’s goalscoring record after drawing level with Bobby Charlton in Saturday’s FA Cup third-round win over Reading.

The club captain turned in Juan Mata’s cross to join Charlton on 249 goals before a strike from Anthony Martial and a double from Marcus Rashford secured a 4-0 victory at Old Trafford.

Rooney’s last goal came against Feyenoord in November and, having at last moved joint-top of the charts, he wants to claim the outright record sooner rather than later.

“It’s a proud moment to do so at such a massive club like Manchester United,” he told BT Sport. “I’m hugely honoured to be able to play for this football club but to be up there in terms of goals with Sir Bobby is a really proud moment for me.

“Hopefully I’ll be up there on my own soon! 

“Of course you don’t think that far ahead [when you start at the club]. I’ve been at this club for a long time, I’m enjoying it and I’m thankful to be able to score again. 

“It’s a huge part of my life, this club, and I’m honoured to be up there alongside Sir Bobby.

“Of course you want to do records in front of your home fans. We’ve got two home games coming up [against Hull City and Liverpool] and hopefully I can the next one in one of those two games.”

249 – Wayne Rooney is now Manchester United’s joint-highest scorer of all-time along with Bobby Charlton (249). History. pic.twitter.com/9w5sbRG7vR

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 7, 2017

United spurned a number of chances to add to their two first-half goals before Rashford struck twice in quick succession in the closing stages to seal the win over the Championship side.

Rooney was thrilled to see Jose Mourinho’s much-changed side deliver a composed performance against the visitors and made special mention of the approach play shown by Jaap Stam’s men.

“I’m delighted for today but more important is the result,” he said. “There were a lot of changes and the lads who’ve come in have shown that they’re ready.

“We played some good stuff, got some good goals. A lot of credit has to go to Reading, we know they’re a good team and they try to play in the right way. It’s refreshing to see from a team in the league below.

“We could have scored a lot more but there were some good saves, some missed opportunities. But we know the FA Cup, there are some shocks every year, we said before the game not to be complacent.”