Rooney: Night To Forget

Wayne Rooney admits Manchester United were distinctly second best against Manchester City and says the players need to forget the 3-0 derby defeat quickly.

United endured a nightmare start on Tuesday, conceding a goal inside the first minute to Edin Dzeko, and never recovered as the title-chasing Blues won for the third consecutive season at Old Trafford.

Rather than dwell on the loss, Rooney wants the Reds to bounce back quickly against Aston Villa on Saturday, in order to restore confidence ahead of next week’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

The striker told MUTV: "It's a bad night and we didn't deserve to win. We weren’t clinical enough and we didn't create enough chances.

"No-one likes to lose a derby game – they're big games and they're great to win, but when you lose it's not a great feeling. For the fans and for us, we have to win more and stay together.

"It was a poor start – I'm not even sure whether we touched the ball before they scored. After that, I thought we did okay and got back into the game a little bit before half-time. But we started the second half on the back foot and their second goal was a killer.

"We've got two big games coming up against Bayern Munich but first we have to focus on the Villa game and try to end the season on a positive note."

While United have the best away form in the Barclays Premier League, this was a sixth defeat of the season at Old Trafford and Rooney was at a loss to explain why.

"I don't know but it's not good enough," he accepted. "We can't lose six homes games in a season and we have to put that right, and make this a place which teams fear again.

"It's probably been the story of our season so far that we've got a couple of good results and then one which sets us back a bit. We know we have to respond. It's a bad night for us all but we have to move on."

United’s fans once again got behind their team and Rooney added: "They were great again tonight. As a team, we need them to be strong and to understand there has been a big change at the club.

"We have to step up and start giving the fans something to cheer about with some good performances and wins."