Rooney hails Ferguson impact

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney says Sir Alex Ferguson is a ‘great manager’ who inspires the best out of his Old Trafford pupils.

Rooney missed Sunday’s 2-1 win over Norwich with a throat infection that has also ruled him out of England’s midweek friendly against the Netherlands.

United have kept the heat on Manchester City at the top of the Premier League standings, staying two points behind the league leaders.

Rooney feels that Ferguson is able to get the best of his players, which will hold his side in good stead as they chase a 20th league title.

“He (Ferguson) is a great manager,” Rooney told Fifa.com. “He knows which players he can speak to and which players he can shout at, if he needs to.”

“He knows how the players react and how to get the best out of them. That’s important, especially in this day and age.”

“His mentality for the game, his commitment and desire, and obviously things that the players try and take on themselves. For me personally, he’s been brilliant. He is a great leader of our team.”

With the title race seemingly destined to go down to the wire, Rooney is hoping to add to his current total of 17 league goals to help his team pip their local rivals come May.

“We are only a couple of points behind and we have a lot of games to go,” the 26-year-old added.

“We are confident that we can push on now and start being a bit more consistent towards the end of the season.”

“It’s been one of my best goal-scoring seasons. Hopefully I can kick on and score a lot more towards the end of the season.”