Red-hot Roo has goals in his sights

MANCHESTER United captain Wayne Rooney has set his sights on breaking a second of Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring records this season.

Rooney became England’s all–time leading scorer in September when he tucked away a penalty in a 2–0 win against Switzerland at Wembley – his 50th goal for his country.

And he has begun 2016 with a bang, scoring six goals in United’s six matches so far this year.

His latest came at Derby, a sublime curling effort from the right–hand side of the penalty area that settled United’s nerves early on in a tricky FA Cup fourth-round tie - setting Louis van Gaal’s team on its way to a comfortable 3–1 victory.

The 30 year old’s strike in the fourth–round tie was his 243rd goal for United and moved him to within six of another of Charlton’s long–standing records - the legend’s figure of 249 has stood since 1973.

“Of course I’m aware of it,” Rooney said. “Like the England record, when I was getting closer, it kept getting mentioned every week so that will probably start again with every goal. But it’s great to be mentioned again alongside Bobby’s record and hopefully before the end of the season I can go past that and then kick on again.

“I think it’s been a good start to the new year personally. I’ve been scoring goals, I feel good, I feel fit and, although some of the results have been disappointing, I’m enjoying my game at the minute and long may it continue.”

Rooney felt United’s display at Derby was much improved. Van Gaal’s side recovered from George Thorne’s surprise equaliser to progress into the last 32 with second–half goals from Daley Blind and Juan Mata.

“It was obviously a better performance than last week’s game, but I think the manager gave us a lot of freedom to go and play,” said Rooney. “You could see the difference in the team.”