Central Role For Wayne

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney is most effective when he keeps his wanderings to a minimum and occupies the centre-forward role.

The Manchester United striker has enjoyed a profitable return so far this season and has four Premier League goals already, putting him level with Jermain Defoe at the top of the scoring charts.

Cristiano Ronaldo's exit to Real Madrid over the summer has left United to ponder how best to replace the Portuguese wide man's prolific goal tallies.

Ferguson believes Rooney can provide the goals to soften the blow and the England front man has welcomed the opportunity.

But Ferguson understands the 23-year-old is prone to roaming.

Ferguson told Inside United magazine: "The boy's got a real hunger and drive about him. He has so much energy that sometimes he overdoes it in the sense that he wants to use it all; he'll drop into midfield or he'll go outside left.

"But he's young, and young players tend to sometimes be that way - they want to spend all their energy on the pitch.

"But if he concentrates like he did at Wigan and spends more time in the central areas rather than the wide positions then he will get goals. There's no doubt about that."

Rooney has been a regular scorer since joining United in 2004, however Ferguson suspects Sir Bobby Charlton's club goals record of 249 will be difficult to beat.

"It'll be very tough," Ferguson said. "Sir Bobby's record is 249 goals, so at this stage of Wayne's career I'd say he'll have to do very well to get anywhere near that."