Rooney: We can´t concede early

28 October 2012 13:33

Wayne Rooney has warned his Manchester United team-mates they cannot afford to concede an early goal against Chelsea on Sunday.

Chelsea recruited Oscar and Eden Hazard in the off-season for a combined fee of almost 60 million pounds, joining Juan Mata in attack playing just behind Fernando Torres - and the combination has proved to be formidable so far.

Rooney has emphasised the need for United to prevent early goals from going in, especially at Stamford Bridge against an in-form Chelsea team.

"We don't want to be doing that (conceding early again) and against the best teams it will be difficult to get those goals to win games," Rooney said.

"It happened against Braga (in the Champions League in midweek) and we did well to get back into the game and win it.

"You can't afford to be going one or two goals down against Chelsea away – although we did last season. We went 3-0 down before we drew. But we can't do that again."

"Mata is a great player and Hazard has settled in really well in his first season so I think those two along with Torres are the three biggest threats.

"Torres is still a threat, of course. I don't think he gets the credit he deserves because he works hard for the team. Sometimes the goals go in for him, other times they don't, but he's always trying."

Chelsea are undefeated in the League, winning seven of their eight games whilst drawing the other against QPR.

"It's a great start and it’s clear having won the Champions League last season it has given them a lot more confidence, they have brought a lot of new players in and added more speed to the team," Rooney said.