Wayne Rooney has stoked the fires ahead of Manchester United’s
title showdown with Liverpool on Saturday by stating his “hatred”
of his boyhood side Everton’s arch rivals.
The former Toffees forward’s comments appeared briefly on
United’s official website on Thursday, before being altered to
remove their potentially inflammatory slant.
Rooney, who progressed through Everton’s youth ranks before
graduating to their first team, will face The Reds at Old Trafford
as Sir Alex Ferguson’s side look to hammer what would be the final
nail in the coffin for Liverpool’s title challenge.
"I'm very excited about the game because I grew up as an Everton
fan hating Liverpool - and that hasn't changed,” said Rooney on
United’s site, before his comments were hastily watered down.
A United spokesman said yesterday: "In advance of the game we
felt this was the best option as these kind of things can be
misinterpreted and cause unnecessary problems.
"The comments are open to wilful mis-reporting and neither the
club, nor Wayne wanted that to happen."
Rooney continued to explain his excitement at the “biggest game
of the season”, and is aiming to end Rafa Benitez’s outfit’s fading
title aspirations.
"If we can beat Liverpool it will almost certainly put them out
of the title race and that will be great for everybody at Old
Trafford - and especially for me,” he said.
"No other game is ever going to get in the way of United and
Liverpool. For me, it's always our biggest game of the season. It's
always a massive fixture and especially so this time with what's at
stake.
"Liverpool have put up a great challenge this season but it
would be nice if we could end that challenge at our place.
"Games against Liverpool are always anxious. I'm sure it will be
frantic with a lot of challenges and it's going to be difficult for
both teams."