Misfiring English frontman, Wayne Rooney, has accepted that he needs to up his game in the crucial game against Algeria.
Misfiring English frontman, Wayne Rooney, has accepted that he needs to up his game in the crucial game against Algeria.
England's World Cup opener against the United States last weekend was the sixth consecutive match in which the Manchester United striker failed to score.
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| Let's do it: Wayne Rooney will be hoping to create some magic tonight. Pic/gettyimages |
"I'd like to score, but if I'm not scoring I'll keep working until I do," said Rooney, who has scored 25 times in 61 internationals. "I don't worry that much about it. We've got players in the team who can score goals. For us to do well, I need to play better than I did and to score goals, but I don't feel under extra pressure."
Today's match is critical for England if they are to make it past the group stages having played a 1-1 draw with USA, thanks to a howler by goalkeeper Robert Green.
Defender Matthew Upson also came out in support of England's marksman saying that he had complete trust in his teammate's abilities. "Whenever you're a striker, the worst thing you can do is start thinking about scoring all the time ufffd it'll happen.
"His movement's great, he's a class player and he's totally gifted. He just needs to relax, play his game and the goals will come. He's top drawer."
Heskey needs time While there is little threat to Rooney's starting spot, criticism of strike partner Emile Heskey has grown, with coach Fabio Capello telling broadcasters that he is considering replacing the Aston Villa player with Jermain Defoe. However, the 32-year-old Heskey is appealing for patience.
"The more you play with any player, the more you get an understanding with them and that is the case with Wayne," he said.
"We work together on the training field and we are well prepared to perform better if we get the chance again. "I take the positives from that performance and try and take it into training and then the next game. I thought we really got at (the Americans) in attack and created a few chances. They weren't comfortable with the way we played as we caused them problems and we can do that again," Heskey said.
