Nani believes Man Utd's title rivals should be fearful after Wayne Rooney ends goal drought

02 February 2011 16:25
Nani has warned Manchester United's title rivals that Wayne Rooney will now start to bang the goals in after he ended his drought against Aston Villa on Tuesday night.[LNB]On the night Sir Alex Ferguson delivered a demand for Rooney to hit double figures this season, the 25-year-old scored for the first time in open play since March.[LNB]His double took him to five for the season and whilst that figure still has Rooney trailing Park Ji-sung and Nani, in addition to free-scoring duo Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez, the likelihood of the England star bagging many more is high.[LNB] Drought over: Wayne Rooney wheels away in delight after scoring his fifth of the season against Aston Villa[LNB] And, as the championship battle starts to take shape, that could leave United in a very advantageous position.[LNB]'Wayne will go on a run now,' said Nani.[LNB]'He might not have scored many goals but he is very important for the team because he works so hard in every game.[LNB]'Sometimes the games haven't gone the way he wanted but last night was his best performance of this season.[LNB]Fine form: Nani has become a key figure for Man Utd[LNB]'He will be more confident now and I am sure he will score more goals in the next few games.'[LNB]That belief does not bode well for Arsenal and Chelsea, whose campaign has been reignited following the stunning ?70million acquisitions of Fernando Torres and David Luiz.[LNB]United have not bought players at anything like that level since Berbatov arrived for a club record ?30.75million in 2008.[LNB]Ferguson continues to insist there is no value in the market, a view that is hard to challenge given Liverpool paid more for Andy Carroll on Monday than it cost Barcelona to sign David Villa from Valencia last summer.[LNB]Yet, despite the frugal approach, United have somehow got themselves five points ahead of the pack and their last three performances - against Birmingham, Blackpool and Villa - have, in their different ways, borne the hallmark of champions.[LNB]'We are a very confident team at the moment,' said Nani.[LNB]'We don't want to lose and will work hard to keep this way because we want to finish the season in first.'[LNB]Should United avoid defeat at Wolves on Saturday, they will create a new club record of 30 league matches unbeaten too.[LNB]'I don't know how long we can go on for but we hope to finish the season unbeaten,' said Nani.[LNB]'It will be very hard but we intend to win those last games as well.'[LNB]United did not quite emerge from last night's encounter unscathed.[LNB]Darren Fletcher took a nasty blow to the face during the first-half and though he was patched up and tried to play on, the Scotland skipper did not last long.[LNB] Opener: Rooney (left) beats Richard Dunne (right) to the ball before scoring his first goal in open play since March[LNB] He will need to be monitored before facing Mick McCarthy's men, while Rafael must also be given the all-clear after failing to return from the concussion he suffered at Blackpool seven days earlier.[LNB]These do appear to be minor inconveniences at present, although with the Manchester derby looming on February 12 and the trip to Chelsea still pencilled in for March 1, it won't be long before the Red Devils face the acid test of their title credentials.[LNB]However, if desire is a major requirement, Ferguson's team are halfway there already, their lead coming from the manager, and also veteran winger Ryan Giggs, who has already won 11 titles but still has room for another.[LNB]'You have always got a challenge to focus on or a disappointment to get over,' he said.[LNB]'I have been fortunate to have a lot of success down the years but I am greedy and it ends up being the disappointments that you think about more and more.[LNB]'There have been more highs than lows but the lows stay with you and drive you on.'[LNB] Running scared: John Terry tells title rivals Chelsea are back in business after ?75m splurgeUpdated Premier League squad list: Manchester UnitedAll the latest Man Utd news, features and opinion[LNB]  Explore more:People: Alex Ferguson, Darren Fletcher, Ryan Giggs, Andy Carroll, Dimitar Berbatov, Wayne Rooney, Park Ji-sung, Mick McCarthy, Nani Places: Barcelona, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Scotland, United Kingdom

Source: Daily_Mail