Rooney: Festive Schedule Is Tough

Wayne Rooney hopes a longer rest period will pay dividends for Manchester United when the Reds travel to Stoke City for the club's next festive fixture on New Year's Day.

Rooney and co. will be looking to extend the unbeaten run to 10 games when making the short trip south to the Britannia Stadium.

By then, the players will have had several days to recuperate and prepare for the rigours of facing Stoke – more time than was on offer between the Boxing Day win over Newcastle and Sunday's stalemate with Tottenham.

When reflecting on the match at White Hart Lane, the United skipper felt the demands of the quick turnaround had affected both sides.

"It’s not easy playing two games in three days. You do lose a lot of quality from both teams and the second half was a bit scrappy," Wayne told reporters.

"In the future, I think it [the schedule] has to change because it is tough and no-one wants to see any players getting really bad injuries from it. It is very demanding and I think it needs looking at."

Despite having to play at midday in north London, United were buoyed at Spurs by the usual vocal backing and the efforts of the travelling fans were appreciated by the captain.

"It's tough for the fans, too, travelling over Christmas, with the weather we've had over the last few days," Rooney added.

"But that is how it is. We have to deal with that and we have to try to cope. As a player, you want to play and to try to help the team win."