There’s nothing like a spectacular winning strike in a Manchester derby to help you on the charm offensive and Wayne Rooney has claimed that his stunning volley on Saturday was for the Manchester United supporters.

The England striker has not been flavour of the month with every supporter since his transfer request earlier in the season and, even though it’s been withdrawn, many still feel as though he took the club for a ride.

“The Manchester United fans deserve that from me,” he said. “I haven’t had the best of seasons and I know how big this game is in Manchester so I hope they enjoyed that. Now the aim is to keep scoring and help us get that title back.”

Rooney also admitted that City’s defeat at Old Trafford effectively means they can be discounted from the Premier League title reckoning.

“It almost certainly rules City out of the title race unless a disaster happens,” Rooney said. “We are the team to catch. We know how it feels to be top of the league and to get over that finish line. We have the experience with the manager and the players and we know what we have to do. Hopefully within the next six or seven games we can maintain that gap or make it bigger.”