United to build on Rooney contract boost

Manchester United’s trip to Stoke on Sunday will once again be dominated by Wayne Rooney even though the striker will miss the match with an ankle problem after signing a contract extension.

Rooney, 24, has agreed a new five-year contract that will keep him at Old Trafford until 2015 after speculation that he might leave the club in January.

It comes as welcome news for a club that has struggled in the opening weeks of the season, drawing each of their four away matches to lose ground on Chelsea and Manchester City at the top of the table.

Rooney had questioned whether the club would be challenging for silverware in recent years but claims he has been persuaded that United has a bright future by Sir Alex Ferguson.

Although he will not be playing, Rooney will still be the main topic of conversation and observers will be keen to see how news of his contract extension is received by supporters.

There were anti-Rooney banners at the 1-0 win over Bursaspor in midweek and some supporters even went to the player’s house on Thursday to register their anger.

United certainly have some catching up to do after settling for draws at Fulham, Everton, Bolton and Sunderland.

Last weekend’s 2-2 draw with West Brom was the third time United have let a lead slip this season.

United defender Patrice Evra feels Ferguson’s team have to get tougher to avoid losing touch with champions Chelsea.

He said: “We have already dropped too many points. I don’t think we can say it’s an accident that we lost leads because it happened against Fulham, Everton, Liverpool and West Brom.

“We’ve given people the opportunity to criticise us, and that’s our fault. We need to recognise that. We should never concede a lot of goals or let leads slip late in games.

“It’s okay not to lose, but I’m a United player and I want to win trophies. We can win trophies again this year, but we need to show that and make sure there are no more dramatic games.

“I always speak about my team. If someone asks me who our most difficult opponent is, I always say ‘Manchester United’.

“No-one ever says that another team beat United, they always say that United missed that opportunity to win.

“Against Sunderland you could say they played well, but I think it’s always our fault rather than the opponents’ when we don’t win.

“It’s up to us to make sure we do enough to win the game – and that goes for any team we are playing against.”

Now in their third season in the Premier League, Stoke have lost their last four matches against United and have not even managed a goal.

It is a record that manager Tony Pulis is determined to put right.

He said: “We’ve improved as a team and we’ve got more in the side to cause people problems now but we’ve still got to play to our maximum.

“If we do that and have a bit of luck then we may have a chance of finally getting something out of a game with one of the top two clubs in the country.

“We’ve go a similar record against Chelsea although we’ve got a lot closer to getting something from matches with them.

“But all this talk of a crisis at Manchester United is remarkable when you think they are unbeaten in the league and haven’t lost a game since the beginning of April.”