Rooney still spot-kick specialist

Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is keen to keep taking penalties despite his horror show against Arsenal in the last match.

The 25-year-old sprayed his spot kick over the bar when his side led, and eventually won, 1-0 against the Londoners at Old Trafford on Monday.

But Rooney said he would atone for his mistake should United be awarded another penalty against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

“Of course I’ll take a penalty at Chelsea if I get the chance. I know players miss penalties and I’m just hoping the next one I will score,” Rooney told the Daily Telegraph.

Rooney’s one goal for United this season was ironically a penalty in the Champions League against Rangers.

The England international admitted he would have liked to have been on the score sheet more often this campaign since returning from injury in November, but also concedes there is more to his game than finding the back of the net.

“Obviously as a centre-forward you want to score goals,” Rooney said.

“Some centre-forwards are different, some like to be on the pitch and their whole job is to score, they don’t look to get involved in the game. I like to get involved in the game and feel part of it but you still want to score.”

Despite the threats of Manchester City and Arsenal, Rooney said the chase for the English Premier League title was between the two sides on Sunday.

“It hurt last year not winning the league, so the main goal is to try to win it back. If we are above Chelsea at end of season, I think we’ll win it,” he said.

“Over the last few weeks Chelsea have hit a bit of a sticky patch but we know they are a great team and we know they will be winning games again soon. So we need to make sure we win and get that edge over them.”