Roo rues fixture demands

WAYNE Rooney has called for a change to the congested festive fixture list before the exertion leads to a serious injury.

The Manchester United and England skipper scored twice in the 3–1 Boxing Day victory over Newcastle and lined up again less than 48 hours later for Sunday’s goalless draw at Tottenham.

The Red Devils boss labelled the match at White Hart Lane as “ugly” and a “struggle for life”, and with more calls than ever for the Premier League to address the Christmas fixture congestion, his captain was in agreement.

“It is not easy playing two games in two days and you do lose a lot of the quality from both teams,” said Rooney.

“It is difficult. In the second half it was tough and hopefully in the future it has to change. It will probably take someone getting a really bad injury from playing twice in two days, which no–one wants to see, but it is very demanding and I think it does need looking at.”

It would have come as a surprise to many that Van Gaal opted to name an unchanged side having questioned the logic behind playing twice in such a short space of time.

The Dutchman has never kept the same XI and neither did his predecessor David Moyes during his ill–fated spell at Old Trafford, with the last unchanged United side named under Sir Alex Ferguson in November 2012.