Manchester United captain Gary Neville has admitted his side will
be relying on England frontman Wayne Rooney this season.
Rooney has shouldered the goalscoring burden for United so
far this term, netting 15 goals in 23 starts, following the
departure of Cristiano Ronaldo during the summer.
With record £30million signing Dimitar Berbatov only
scoring six times this campaign, Rooney has upped his game in a
season which has seen the Red Devils lose five Premier League games
so far.
Neville admits the England international is key to United's
success, and says he wins matches single-handedly.
"Wayne is someone we will rely on in these crucial months,"
he said in the Daily Mirror. "Wayne wins matches for us.
"His goalscoring record in the Premier League is excellent.
He fights for the ball, works hard, and has fitted well into the
team."
The Red Devils are currently second in the Premier League and
remain in the UEFA Champions League and the Carling Cup, although
they were knocked out of the FA Cup by arch-rivals Leeds on Sunday.
Neville thinks that although they have already lost a number
of games in the top-flight, they can still go on and lift the
title.
"The Premier league so far has been very strange and quite
inconsistent," he added.
"Chelsea have dropped points, Liverpool have dropped points,
we've dropped points, as have Arsenal.
"It's certainly not a two-horse race at this stage and there
are still three or four teams in touch with the top.
"We're midway through the race and January will be a month
where teams will still be jostling for position.
"I think it's going to be one of those interesting leagues
where things start developing around February and March.
"But what always happens is that towards March and April you
end up with two teams battling it out for the title.
"For me, this year's league is reminiscent to the one in
1995-96 when we lost six matches and still won the league.
"It's very difficult to estimate how many points are needed
to win it this season. The top teams can go on winning 12 to 13
matches on the bounce.
"It's incredible that we lost five games and yet we're just
two points away from the leaders. It shows the way the league is
developing this year."
