“You can see the progress we are making under Walter and if we can match that work rate and spirit with a bit more quality in terms of retaining the ball and creating chances, then we can go far as a team.”
“[There was also support for Rooney from his team-mate, the Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher.] You don't want to rein in Wayne's hunger because it sometimes spurs him on and makes him play better when things are not going his way, ... He has something inside him you do not want to take away because that is when he is at his best.”
“I am desperate to play and if there is a chance I can, even if it is still bothering me, then I will definitely play... it is just whether or not I risk damaging it more.”
“Spurs have a lot of young players and a lot of quality, and they are progressing in the right way under (manager) Martin Jol and we're going to have to be on the top of our game to beat them.”
“Fair play to them, they have been doing very well but we are going to try to catch them. We have picked up since last month. The results were not that bad but the fact we lost to Blackburn made the results before that, the two draws, look even worse than they were because we lost a lot of ground.”
