Wednesday, 24th December, 2014
Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney is not paying too much heed to Newcastle’s derby loss to Sunderland last weekend and believes the Magpies will be up for their trip to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils will host Newcastle on Friday knowing that they have the best record in the Premier League era on Boxing Day with 17 wins, two draws and one loss.
Newcastle are having an up and down season. A poor start to the campaign followed a five-game winning run and now they have won just once in their last five league fixtures.
Rooney is aware of Newcastle’s inconsistent run this term, but is happy that they stuck with Alan Pardew even after they came under intense supporter-pressure to sack their manager.
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"They’ve had their highs and lows – they started badly and there were a few shouts for Alan Pardew to lose his job”, Rooney told MUTV.
“I’m happy he wasn’t sacked and I think they went on to win five or six games in a row.
"They haven’t picked up as many points as they would have liked to in the last few games, but it’s always a tough game against Newcastle.”
Though their loss to Sunderland was demoralising, the England captain is confident that Newcastle will be up for their trip to Old Trafford and Manchester United need to be at their best to beat the Magpies.
“I don’t think losing to Sunderland will affect them too much.
"It was a big loss for them in a derby, especially with the last-minute winner but they’re coming to Old Trafford to play Manchester United, so they’ll be ready for it.
“I think we’ll have to be at our best to win the game."
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