Man United 4 Wolves 1: Sir Alex hopes Rooney brace will spark run

Sir Alex Ferguson is hoping Wayne Rooney will embark on a fresh goalscoring run after the England striker’s brace helped Manchester United to a comfortable win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Both Nani and Rooney netted either side of the break to help the Red Devils bounce back from their shock Champions League exit in midweek with an impressive victory at Old Trafford after Steven Fletcher had pulled a goal back for the visitors early in the second half.

The England striker had not found the net in eight Premier League appearances before Saturday – and United boss Ferguson admits he is hopeful the 26-year-old will begin scoring regularly again as the hectic festive period looms large.

“Sometimes strikers do go in spurts,” Ferguson told Sky Sports after the game. “Hopefully that is now Wayne on one of those really good spurts of his.”

He continued: “I was pleased with the attacking part, it was very, very good. We could have scored a lot of goals against a Wolves team that played very well themselves in terms of their football.

“They kept crossing the ball into the box and they were a real threat with that. We had to defend that really well. But the attacking part of our play in particular was excellent.”

When asked about the importance of Saturday’s result following the defeat in Basel, Ferguson added: “That’s the character of the football club. It’s in our history, but the important thing is that they’ve got great desire. The players really worked hard in this game, and they worked hard on Wednesday and didn’t get a break.

“We probably got a little break here and there, but we kept working hard and really played some good football.”