Rooney’s alarm call to sleepy Reds

BACK and raring to go, Manchester United can at last turn their attention to retaining their Premier League title.

After a few days in Japan where they collected the Fifa Club World Cup, Sir Alex Ferguson’s side return to the business of picking up points with Boxing Day’s trip to Stoke City (kick-off 12.45pm).

For Wayne Rooney, who scored United’s match-winning goal against LDU Quito, it can’t come soon enough.

The England star was on fire in the Far East, bagging a brace in the semi-final win over Gamba Osaka before sealing United’s triumph in the final.

Rooney said: “I would go back and play the next day if I had to. You always want to play games.

“I know some of the lads have struggled a bit with sleep, but it’s not really been a problem for me.

“Now we just have to get ourselves right for the Stoke City game, because it’s a big one for us.”

Rooney is spot on. It is a match of massive importance for United. To slip up at the Victoria Ground against a team destined for a relegation dogfight would be hard to stomach, especially when title rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool continue to ship points.

United had no such problems when the two teams met at Old Trafford last month when goals from Cristiano Ronaldo (two), Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov and Danny Welbeck secured a 5-0 success.

Stoke, with their up and at ’em style, will cause United problems, although they will miss Rory Delap’s long throw-ins after he sustained a shoulder injury early in the month.

Of the first 13 goals Stoke scored in the Premier League, seven were credited to Delap assists.

Manager Tony Pulis was smarting after the 3-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers last weekend.

He said: “Our defending for all three goals was abysmal. They got into our penalty box three times in the first 23 minutes and scored three goals.”

It will be 24 years to the day since United last visited Stoke for a league game.

That was in the old first division when Stoke, who would eventually finish bottom of the table, won 2-1.

Then, repeats of the Morecambe and Wise Show, Dad’s Army and Porridge filled our festive TV schedules . . come to think of it, they still do.

MANCHESTER United follow up with a home match against Middlesbrough on Monday (8pm).