Updated Feb 27, 2011 6:54 AM ET
Wayne Rooney rates this season as the worst of his career - but he takes consolation from Manchester United's position in the Premier League.
Rooney helped United move four points clear at the top of the Premier League table on Saturday as they romped to a 4-0 success at Wigan.
The 25-year-old scored at the DW Stadium, but it was only his seventh goal of the season, which he admits has been a struggle.
The England forward, who was also accused of elbowing Wigan's James McCarthy during the game, came into this season following a desperately disappointing World Cup campaign.
Then in October he handed in a transfer request at Old Trafford before retracting that and signing a new long-term deal.
And he admits he has never had such a tough time since making his breakthrough as a 16-year-old with Everton.
"I have to say it's been a difficult season for me - probably the worst I've ever had," he told the News of the World.
"That week when I asked for a transfer was something I wouldn't want to go through ever again, but I feel I made the right decision to stay because this club is always going to be challenging for trophies.
"I picked up a few niggles as well and missed a few games, so I didn't really feel like I was playing a part.
"The good thing is that I feel fresh at a time when most players are picking up injuries or feeling jaded.
"I really want to kick on from here and have a big impact on the most important matches of the season."
Rooney in the last few weeks has showed glimpses of getting back to his bes and scored a brilliant overhead kick which won the Manchester derby against City earlier in the month.
"The goal against City gave me a big lift because it was in such an important game. I've seen it again quite a few times and I'll never get sick of it," he added.
"We're happy with the position we have put ourselves in - and we know it could have been even better
"This is usually the time of year when we really go for it. We want the title back. It was hard losing it to Chelsea as we did."
Rooney travels with United to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday, and he admits the West London ground is not his favourite hunting ground.
"We've got a really terrible record at Stamford Bridge - in fact, I don't think I have ever won there in my entire career," he said.
"I've got some pretty bad memories about the place, like the time when I fell down and broke my metatarsal just before the 2006 World Cup.
"But you get these things in football and there's no way to explain them.
"It won't play on our minds. If anything, it will make us even more determined to go there and win.
"It's a really massive game and Chelsea need to win it more than we do. Hopefully the pressure will tell on them.
"I am a bit surprised to see them so far behind us in the league but I would never write them off completely.
"They have shown down the years they are a team capable of going on a long run of winning games.
"We can make it really hard for them by beating them but they will be thinking the same thing about us because it will have a big say on where the title goes."
The win at Wigan put United four points clear and Rooney admits they are in good shape.
He said: "It has been a season where we have had to stick together as a team and grind out results, even when we haven't been playing well.
"To be honest, sometimes you get just as much satisfaction winning that way as you do when you play entertaining football.
"I think it shows how strong we are as a team. It all stems from the manager but the pressure is always there to win trophies.
"We don't care how we do it as long as it's us lifting them at the end of the season."
Updated Feb 27, 2011 5:57 AM ET
Owen Coyle tipped striker Daniel Sturridge to follow in Jack Wilshere's footsteps after seeing him secure Bolton a point at Newcastle.
The 21-year-old, who is on loan at the Reebok Stadium from Chelsea, fired the equaliser - with his fourth goal in as many games - after 38 minutes at St James' Park to further enhance his blossoming reputation.
Coyle has been delighted with Sturridge's contribution since his arrival last month, and is hopeful of reaping the same kind of benefits he received from Arsenal midfielder Wilshere last season.
He said: "There's no doubt he is a natural goalscorer, but he is more than that, he is a natural footballer.
"He can finish left-foot, right-foot, he can score headed goals as well, but he has got pace to burn, he is a clever football and the great thing I love about him is he is exciting.
"I love football, I want to come and be entertained and when he gets the ball, everybody in the stadium thinks something exciting might happen.
"That's the type of player we want in the Premier League.
"I have seen him for a number of years and I did everything in my power to bring him to the football club, knowing the impact he could have.
"Daniel is going to continue to get better. Hopefully, we can help, we can hopefully impart some knowledge, experience, whatever you want to call it.
"But the biggest player in all this will be Daniel, because he is the one who has to go and deliver on it when he crosses the white line, and he has certainly started in the right fashion.
"Jack Wilshere has taken his game to another level now, and I have got no doubts Daniel can - that's why I brought him to the football club, because I believed he was that special.
"I have said to him in there, 'Don't be happy just to score one a game, get your goal and then go and be hungry to get the second one', which he is because he is such a natural goalscorer and a finisher."
Sturridge's strike cancelled out Kevin Nolan's 13th-minute opener against his former club, the midfielder's 11th goal of the season, but was only enough to secure a point despite Ryan Taylor's 54th-minute sending-off.
In an enterprising start by both sides, it was Newcastle who took the lead when Nolan headed firmly home from Cheick Tiote's left-wing cross.
Leon Best twice went close to extending the lead as the visitors struggled to regroup, but they did so and were level seven minutes before the break, thanks to Sturridge.
He accepted Johan Elmander's pass and shifted the ball on to his left foot before drilling a low shot past Steve Harper.
Both sides returned after the break knowing the points were there for the taking, but the Magpies' hopes were all but over when Taylor - a late replacement for Joey Barton, who was injured during the warm-up - was sent off for a two-footed lunge at Elmander.
But although the visitors launched a concerted assault, it was their hosts who thought they had snatched victory at the death when substitute Nile Ranger headed home, but from an offside position.
Coyle said: "If you had offered a point before the game, I think we would have seen that as a very good point, and I don't see why at the end of the game, that changes, excepting that we could have won the game."
Opposite number Alan Pardew was also happy enough with a point which eased the Magpies closer to Premier League safety, and defended Taylor over his rash tackle.
He said: "I have seen it again and he went in a little bit over-zealously. I didn't think it was high, if I am honest, but he was late.
"With that type of take-off, you are going to be sent off in today's age. Go back 10 years and the boy ain't getting sent off - he might not even get a booking."
Updated Feb 27, 2011 6:27 AM ET
Gerard Houllier hailed an superb performance from stand-in skipper Ashley Young during Aston Villa's 4-1 demolition of Blackburn at Villa Park.
England coach Fabio Capello saw Young shine in the central midfield role and score twice.
He wore the armband in place of long term skipper Stiliyan Petrov who declined to take it off Young when offered it when he came on as a late substitute.
Stewart Downing, plus an own goal from Grant Hanley, completed the scoring for Villa while Rovers could only manage a consolation through Nikola Kalinic.
Houllier said: "Ashley is an inspiring leader when he is on the pitch.
"I know the captain is Stiliyan when he plays but, when he is not playing, Ashley is a leader because of the efforts he puts in.
"As the game goes on, his efficiency and work-rates goes on as well and does not diminish.
"I like him to play in that position to be fair. He can be a real specialist.
"He can be a striker and he can also be a link between the midfield and the attack."
Veteran midfielder Robert Pires also impressed Houllier in having his best game for Villa.
Houllier said: "The game Robert played against Blackburn in the FA Cup gave him match fitness and confidence.
"In training he has been good, nearly scoring and making goals, so I thought he would bring something.
"It was his best game for Villa. He was more confident at taking the ball."
Houllier was pleased with his side's overall performance despite not breaking the deadlock until the second half.
He said: "I think some people may have been disappointed with the first half. I was not and I told the players to keep their heads up, keep believing in what we were doing.
"We had to put more tempo, which we did in the second half.
"I said keep passing and moving once we get in the final third and eventually we would find a solution and that paid off.
"More than the result, was the quality of the play. We made some mistakes but I want the team to play that way with confidence and to me, it has got to be entertaining."
Rovers manager Steve Kean admitted his side were always facing an uphill battle once Young's penalty had broken the deadlock.
He said: "We set up to try and nullify Villa through the middle of the pitch by playing three in there.
"We were excellent in the early part and trying to get a clean sheet as a platform.
"Villa started to get on top just before half-time and I felt we were getting a little bit deep.
"We said it was important to keep it tight for the first 15 minutes of the second half and then hopefully the crowd would get restless.
"Before the penalty we had a great chance ourselves and Brad Friedel made a good save and a minute later we are a goal down.
"It is a bad day after that. We found ourselves chasing the game and being a little bit open."
Updated Feb 27, 2011 6:06 AM ET
Everton boss David Moyes expects Jermaine Beckford to continue improving after his double strike against Sunderland on Saturday.
Beckford struck twice in the first half to ease the Toffees into mid-table in the Premier League with a 2-0 success at Goodison Park.
Beckford, 27, has had a difficult first season in the top flight after moving from Leeds last summer but now has eight goals for the campaign and appears to be finding his feet.
Moyes said: "When we brought him to the club the idea was we brought him on slowly and we had to put him in a bit too early.
"But I always thought if he got his chance and played some games he would get goals and he is proving that.
"If you move up the divisions you have to try to compete with better players.
"The defenders are better, they are stronger, faster and have better concentration. You have to move up and learn that.
"It has been a big step up for him - it is for any player to jump up two divisions - and it was going to take time.
"He has got to improve on other aspects of his game but I think his movement in the box is as good as I have seen from a lot of the best.
"He can lose defenders and go one way and then the other. He is fantastic at that."
Everton's win was only their second in six league outings but built on last week's memorable FA Cup fourth-round replay success at Chelsea.
Sunderland were competitive throughout the first half and almost cancelled out Beckford's opener when Tim Howard tipped a thunderous Stephane Sessegnon drive onto the bar.
But the second goal blunted the visitors' attack and the Black Cats surrendered to a fourth successive defeat that could have been more emphatic.
Moyes said: "I thought we did a good job today, we were in control for most periods.
"I'm maybe a little disappointed we didn't add to our tally.
"I thought we might have scored more goals but overall we won 2-0 and I've not been able to say that too often in the Premier League this season. Thankfully we got those important points."
The result knocked Sunderland down to eighth and was another blow to their hopes of pushing for a place in Europe.
"We seem to save our worst for Everton for some reason," said manager Steve Bruce, whose side have not won at Goodison Park since 1996.
"Throughout the season you have disappointing games and disappointing moments and there is no doubt this was one of them.
"We were second best all afternoon.
"Defensively we were very poor and if you don't do the basics you are going to come unstuck.
"I didn't see them do much but if you get 2-0 up it's game over, usually, in the Premier League.
"We have to get that resilience and determination that we had three or four weeks ago, to keep a clean sheet, back.
"That is why we are in the position we are - because defensively we didn't give much away.
"We were difficult to beat but that is the opposite of what we have seen today.
"We have given away poor goals and you can count on one hand how many people really played well.
"When you come away to somewhere like Everton you have to produce a better performance and have more resilience about you than we did today."
Updated Feb 27, 2011 5:52 AM ET
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway described DJ Campbell's moment of madness at Wolves as "unacceptable" after "a stinking day in the office."
In front of a record crowd for the revamped Molineux of 29,086, Wolves cruised to their biggest Premier League victory with a 4-0 romp over the Seasiders.
Wolves' third home win from their last four league games means they are now out of the bottom three for only the second time in the last five months.
This latest triumph came on the back of a first half which started and ended in nightmare fashion for Holloway as Matt Jarvis gave the home side the lead after just 116 seconds.
Then just over two minutes from the break, leading scorer Campbell pushed Wolves defender Richard Stearman in the face with both hands.
That earned him a straight red card from referee Neil Swarbrick and an automatic three-match suspension, starting with next Monday's visit to Bloomfield Road of Chelsea.
After the break Wolves took full advantage of the 10-man visitors, with on-loan Jamie O'Hara adding a second in the 55th minute before a brace from substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake in the closing 12 minutes.
Assessing Campbell's red mist, Holloway said: "It probably seemed pretty innocent, but he has scrapes down the back of his Achilles, and it was Stearman who kicked him however many times before that.
"But it's still unacceptable. That's part and parcel of your job, but it's just out of character, so something was not quite right with him today, and it really cost us.
"You've got to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get on with it.
"But goals are vital. Luke Varney missed our only chance, and if he had scored then who knows what would have happened? Maybe DJ would not have been frustrated."
Asked if he was shattered by the defeat, Holloway added: "Not really. I don't get shattered - I'm made not made of glass or crystal. I'm bruised, it hurts, but I'm not shattered.
"I'm a football manager and unfortunately we were beaten by the better team.
"You need things to go for you, and we had spoken about doing things right and doing them better, but we were one down inside two minutes.
"That changed the whole complexion of the crowd and their players, of our crowd and our players. Such is life.
"But that was a stinking day in the office for me, although I'm pleased for Mick, who has carried himself with dignity all the time I've known him.
"My lot will have to come up with something a bit better than that to try to get a result against Chelsea.
"But this is no disgraceful result because Manchester United and Chelsea have already been beaten here. It's a tough place to come."
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy believes his side's luck might finally be beginning to turn as he feels they've not had an ounce of good fortune this season.
"I've not come away from a game this season and thought we were lucky or were jammy. I've not said that once this season," said McCarthy.
"But after (Blackpool captain) Charlie Adam was booked on Tuesday night (his 10th of the season leading to a two-game ban which began today), I thought then that maybe our luck was changing.
"We then scored a fabulous first goal here, then DJ Campbell gets himself sent off, and that caused them all sorts of problems.
"I said last week before we drew at West Brom that I wanted four points from the two games. We should have had all six, but I think four from the two is a good haul."
Updated Feb 27, 2011 7:21 AM ET
Bayern Munich director of sport Christian Nerlinger has conceded the Bundesliga title to Borussia Dortmund following Saturday's home defeat.
A 3-1 win took Dortmund 16 points ahead of the defending champions with 10 games remaining and Nerlinger admitted the Bavarians can no longer think of catching their rivals.
"I think that Dortmund will be worthy German champions," said Nerlinger.
"If we hadn't changed our aims for the season yet, then we have got to do so today.
"We now have to aim for second place and that is not going to be easy. If Leverkusen win, and I presume they will do, then we will be six points behind.
"We are in a dangerous situation and the team cannot under-estimate that."
Bayern slipped to fourth in the table as a result of yesterday's defeat and, were the season to end now, they would not be playing Champions League football next season.
With the 2012 Champions League final due to be staged at Munich's Allianz Arena, failure to even qualify for the competition would be a major setback and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says they must focus all of their efforts on ensuring that does not happen.
"Leverkusen are three points above us, Hannover two - it is not going to be a walk in the park," he said.
"We are going to have to push ourselves immensely to reach our goal."
While Bayern may have written off the title, Dortmund are still not accepting it will be theirs.
"Today was a really special day, but the title is not something which occupies our minds," said defender Mats Hummels.
Updated Feb 26, 2011 4:24 PM ET
Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund won at Bayern Munich 3-1 on Saturday for the first time in 20 years.
Lucas Barrios opened the scoring in the 9th minute, Nuri Sahin added a stunning second on the counterattack in the 18th, and defender Mats Hummels' powerful header from a Mario Goetze corner came in the 60th. Luiz Gustavo scored for Bayern.
"It doesn't get any better," Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said of Sahin's goal.
"It was a huge day for us because they were watching in 198 countries. We wanted to play a special game and we succeeded. I am extremely happy. Dortmund didn't win in Munich for 19 years. (Captain) Sebastian Kehl was 11, and the rest of the boys were still being breast-fed."
With 10 games left to play, Dortmund was 16 points ahead of Munich, which dropped to fourth following Hannover's earlier 1-0 win at St. Pauli, when Christian Schulz scored a last minute winner.
"The title was already gone," Bayern coach Louis van Gaal said. "We said that before."
Lukas Podolski's classy late winner earned Cologne a 1-0 win over Freiburg to extend his side's winning run at home.
The German forward struck in the 88th minute when he lifted the ball over Oliver Baumann for his 12th goal of season.
Cologne has now won five in a row at home and moves up to 11th in the standings.
Elsewhere, Mainz won 2-1 at Hoffenheim, Kaiserslautern drew 1-1 with Hamburger SV, and Raul Gonzalez equalized to earn Schalke a 1-1 draw at home to Nuremberg.
An off-form Bastian Schweinsteiger was at fault for Dortmund's opener. He failed to control the ball and Kevin Grosskreutz pounced before waiting to release Barrios. The Paraguay striker swept the ball past Thomas Kraft.
The unmarked Luiz Gustavo equalized from a Franck Ribery corner in the 15th. The Brazilian's powerful volley gave Australian Mitchell Langerak - making his Bundesliga debut in place of the injured Roman Weidenfeller - no chance.
Dortmund reclaimed the lead when Sahin looked up and picked his spot before dispatching a perfect strike around the despairing effort of Kraft. Barrios and Goetze were involved in the build up.
Mario Gomez had the ball in the net for Bayern in the 35th, but the goal was ruled out in a marginal offside call.
The Bundesliga's top scorer should have added to his tally of 18 goals moments later, but he played the ball back to Thomas Mueller instead of shooting.
Kevin Grosskreutz had legitimate appeals for a penalty waved away shortly afterward, when it appeared he was hauled down by Philipp Lahm.
Kraft's flying save denied Goetze from 20 meters (yards), but there was little he could do when Hummels got ahead of Schweinsteiger to power in Dortmund's third against his former club.
Langerak did well to deny Gomez in the 76th, and Arjen Robben was booked for diving moments later, as Bayern became increasingly desperate.
Ribery - Bayern's most effective player - and Toni Kroos both went close late on.
"The first two goals were down to big individual mistakes, but that happens in football. Too bad it happened against Dortmund," Van Gaal said. "They scored the goals at the right moments."
Earlier, Cologne failed to make the most of its early chances as it dominated play against Freiburg.
Milivoje Novakovic missed an open goal when he hit the post from five meters (yards) in the 27th, after a long distance effort from Mato Jajalo.
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Freiburg top scorer Papiss Demba Cisse had a goal ruled out in the 75th, when referee Christian Dingert ruled he impeded goalkeeper Michael Rensing. However, television replays suggested the striker got his head to the ball first.
Podolski won the game when he raced forward to control Novakovic's flick-on before sending the ball over Baumann into the right corner.
St. Pauli missed a number of chances against Hannover, playing without top scorer Didier Ya Konan, before Schulz - a defender - rose highest to score from Sergio Pinto's late corner.
"It was a catastrophic game from both sides," St. Pauli coach Holger Stanislawski said.
It was the first time Hannover has won a Bundesliga game without Ya Konan since he joined the club in 2009. The previous 11 games without him ended in defeat.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar missed a couple of good chances for Schalke as the home side came under pressure from unhappy fans.
Jens Hegeler scored for Nuremberg in the 37th, when Manuel Neuer could only parry a speculative effort from Mehmet Ekici.
Raul equalized in the 52nd, when he pounced to sweep the ball low past Raphael Schaefer.
Schaefer then denied Raul and the luckless Huntelaar again, and more chances were squandered before Schalke's players were whistled off the pitch by their fans.
Updated Feb 26, 2011 8:02 AM ET
Dieter Hoeness spoke of his relief after Wolfsburg ended a four-game losing streak to beat Borussia Monchengladbach 2-1 on Friday.
Two goals from Diego, who also missed his second penalty in the last four games, earned the Wolves a crucial Volkswagen Arena victory which takes them away from immediate relegation danger and, according to managing director Hoeness, could prove to be a turning point in their season.
"There was a lot of tension before the game since we played well last week, but did not get any points," he said on his club's website.
"We played well again and this time go the three points.
"I am very relieved about that. I am now convinced that we will be able to show in future that we can play really good football.
"It is certainly going to be more difficult in Leverkusen (next weekend), but I have faith in our side getting points there too."
The win was the Wolves' first at home in six attempts and it was Pierre Littbarski's first points since replacing Steve McClaren as coach.
He was also relieved to see his side hold onto all three points, especially when Gladbach reduced the arrears in the second half.
"We have gone through such a rollercoaster of emotions so often in the last six months that the relief is all the more greater," he said.
"It was very mentally straining on the bench in the second half."
Gladbach coach Lucien Favre admitted his side had deserved to lose, even though they came close to stealing a point.
"We played against a very good side and it was a deserved win for Wolfsburg," he said.
"We could not match them in the first half. We showed a reaction in the second half and could definitely have made it 2-2, but the defeat is nevertheless fair."
Updated Feb 25, 2011 11:42 AM ET
Borussia Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp has moved to lower expectations ahead of his side's trip to Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Thirteen points separate the two sides in the Bundesliga, with Dortmund knowing a win for them would practically end Bayern's hopes of retaining their title with 10 games of the season remaining.
However, although it is Dortmund enjoy the cushion at the top, Klopp insists Bayern must be respected.
"It is too early for us to see ourselves on a par with Bayern," he said.
"However, in just one game, a lot can happen."
Dortmund could be without their regular number one goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller after he sprained his knee in training this week.
A decision on his inclusion will be made on Saturday morning and, if he is not fit to play, he will be replaced by Australian goalkeeper Mitchell Langerak, who would be making his Dortmund debut.
Klopp is not reading too much into the probable change, though.
"If Roman is fit, then he will play, but if not, then instead of having one of Germany's best goalkeepers between the posts, we will have one of Australia's best.
"If so, we will play with probably the youngest side Dortmund have every played a Bundesliga match with."
Bayern did not have any time to revel in their win 1-0 over Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday.
"When you experience games like this, then you should be able to say let's enjoy the moment, but unfortunately we have another very important game on Saturday," said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge at the after-match banquet.
"We must carry on where we have left off in that game."
Fortunately for coach Louis van Gaal, that game has not left its mark on his side and he has a fully-fit squad to choose from for tomorrow's top-of-the-table clash at the Allianz Arena, where Dortmund have not managed to win since 1991.
Updated Feb 24, 2011 11:18 AM ET
A former St. Pauli defender who now plays for the reserves and also works in the club's media department has been training for a possible comeback because six first-team defenders are missing for the upcoming Bundesliga match against Hannover.
St. Pauli coach Holger Stanislawski has called up Hauke Brueckner to train with the first team because he is running out of defenders.
The club says the 30-year-old Brueckner could end up in the squad for Saturday's match. Brueckner played for St. Pauli when it was in the lower tiers.
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