Rooney hails new strike role

Rooney hopes to continue goalscoring form at the World Cup

By Jonathan Witty   Last updated: 12th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Rooney hails new strike role

Rooney: Pleased with new position

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Wayne Rooney reckons his new role as a lone striker for Manchester United has improved his goalscoring ability.

Freed from the defensive responsibilities that limited his forages forward in previous seasons, Rooney has been in inspirational form for United and has spearheaded their challenge for domestic and European honours.

Rooney scored his 29th and 30th goals of the season with a brace in United's 4-0 Champions League demolition of AC Milan on Wednesday, which underlined his credentials as one of Europe's top strikers.

The England striker has notched 15 goals in his last 12 games and believes his work ethic on the training ground has inspired his recent fun of form.

"I think I have been in the box a lot more and working on my timing and finishing," he said on Sky Sports News.

"I have played up front in every game I have played this season and that has helped me score a lot of goals."

"When you are the lone striker you have to play up the pitch because you are the focal point of your team."

World Cup

Despite a gruelling Premier League run-in with Manchester United, Rooney admits that he is already thinking about the showpiece in South Africa.

"You try not to think about the World Cup, because you need to concentrate on your club first, but it's always there in your mind," Rooney said.

"When it comes it's a dream to play for your country in any competition and to play in the World Cup is an unbelievable feeling.

"I think we did really well in qualifying and I was gutted we lost one game as it would have been nice to go to the World Cup without losing

"We played really well in the qualifying campaign and fully deserved to go through."

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