Reds Hail Robin Reliant

Chris Smalling and Phil Jones have heaped praise on Robin van Persie after he netted his 15th goal of the season in the 3-1 win over Sunderland.

The Dutchman fired the opener against the Black Cats with a smart finish on 16 minutes and laid on the third for Wayne Rooney after brilliantly skipping free of two Sunderland defenders.

Van Persie has been a revelation since he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer and his team-mates say he is a joy to play alongside.

"Robin has been incredible since he joined. He's a fantastic player," Jones told MUTV.

"He went straight into the firing line after he arrived and has scored a lot of goals. And he's such a nice lad off the field as well, so it's great to have him here."

Smalling echoed those sentiments in an interview with MUTV: "He's really making the difference.

"He only came here in the summer and didn't have much of a pre-season so it was a case of just getting straight into the games, but you can see in every match he plays that he's such a threat and he puts teams on the back foot. His understanding with Wayne [Rooney] is growing all the time."