Rooney unfazed
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Wayne Rooney insists he has no problem being shunted onto the left wing for Manchester United's drab Champions League draw with Marseille.
Like most of his team-mates, Rooney did not get a decent sight of the home goal at the Stade Velodrome and never looked like adding to his single European strike this season, which came against Rangers at Ibrox in November.
However, many critics feel United would have stood more of a chance if Rooney had been deployed in a more orthodox central role, which only happened following the introduction of Paul Scholes 18 minutes from time.
Playing on the left is not something the 25-year-old is entirely unused to.
He did it on a regular basis during the latter months of Cristiano Ronaldo's time at United, when Sir Alex Ferguson opted to use the former world player of the year as a central striker.
And whilst Rooney would prefer to play down the middle, given Ferguson had to juggle a team struck by injuries to seven senior players, he has no complaints.
"We've got a lot of injuries at the minute, so I don't have a problem [playing on the wing]," Rooney told www.uefa.com.
"It was quite a difficult game for us. Marseille didn't cause us many problems but we didn't create as many chances as we'd have liked either.
"We had a few big players missing and I think they would have made a difference had they been here."
Ferguson is hoping to have most of them available for the second leg in three weeks' time, including Antonio Valencia, who has been out since September.
And, with United's task relatively straightforward, only a win is certain to take them into the last eight, Rooney feels his team-mates have every reason to be confident.
"We've got Marseille at home now and we know that if we beat them we're through to the next round," he said.
"We're confident at home and we have to be positive."
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Rooney unconcerned by erratic displays
Wayne Rooney has said he is not unduly concerned about Manchester United's erratic performances as long as they continue the run of results that has put them in a commanding position in the three major competitions. Rooney admitted the 0-0 draw at Marseille on Wednesday did "not make great viewing" but the striker was not too downbeat about a performance that went a long way to justifying Didier Deschamps' observation that Sir Alex Ferguson's team do not play with the same "fantasy" as previous years. "I hope we make amends in the second leg and turn on the style but at this stage of the competition you have to look to win the game over two legs," Rooney said. "I watched the Arsenal and Tottenham games [against Barcelona and Milan] and they were great games. But for us the win is the most important thing, rather than how we do it. Nil-nil can be a dangerous score if they were to score at Old Trafford but we're confident of beating them at home so we've got to be positive. Marseille didn't pose too many problems and I'm sure we can play better at home." The trip to Marseille was the first in a run of four away matches for United. "We've got three massive games coming up now at Wigan, Chelsea and Liverpool and then maybe Arsenal in the FA Cup [if they beat Leyton Orient in a fifth-round replay] so it is a massive time for us."
Daniel Taylor, The GuardianThe Independent also quotes Rooney on the Marseille draw, but incorporates further reaction from Nani. On next month's second leg against L'OM, the Portuguese warns: "We need to make sure we are positive and strong from the start and do our best to try and score an early goal."
Praise continues to flood forth for Chris Smalling. The Independent and Mirror feature pieces on the 21-year-old's impressive debut season, including the defender's concession that "when Rio (Ferdinand) got injured, it was time for me to step up to the plate."
