Wayne Rooney wary of Fulham home form

Manchester United travel to Craven Cottage this weekend

Wayne Rooney expects a much tougher test from Fulham at Craven Cottage tomorrow than they got off the Londoners in the FA Cup last weekend.

Rooney was amongst the scorers as Manchester United cruised to victory at Old Trafford, with only Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer standing between his side and a particularly heavy defeat.

On that form, there is no reason to suggest United's title drive will be halted tomorrow evening.

Yet, on their own pitch, Rooney knows Fulham are a different proposition, having been part of the United side that has tasted defeat on the banks of the River Thames twice in their last four visits.

"The cup game was quite comfortable," said Rooney. "But at home, Fulham are a different team.

"They have got players who can take the ball between the lines because the pitch is not as big and then they can create chances.

"They are down near the bottom so they will be fighting to get one or three points."

Not that United are too bothered to be getting away from Old Trafford.

As Sir Alex Ferguson noted during the Christmas programme, the pitch has "collapsed", which hardly aids United's preferred passing game.

"We always want a nice surface to play on and in recent games the pitch has not been good enough," said Ferguson.

"It could have cost us. Thankfully it hasn't.

"Hopefully the groundsman can get it right in the next couple of weeks.

"It will be difficult because of the weather but it would be nice to get that little break and come back to a good pitch."

With nine goals in his last nine games, Rooney has found his form after a stop-start campaign, moving onto 12 for the season.

Not that he is too fussed about his own contribution in the scoring stakes; all he is interested in are victories.

"It is nice to score and and it has helped the team pick up points," he said.

"But that is the most important thing, that the team picks up points.

"I have always said I am not really too concerned with how many goals I score as long as we keep winning."

PA