MILLWALL won’t be paying any special attention to Wayne Rooney in the build-up to Saturday’s clash with Derby – and neither will they be treating him with reverence this weekend.
Rooney is expected to recover from a muscle injury that kept him out of the Rams’ 3-0 win over Blackburn last Saturday.
The 34-year-old is England’s record goal-scorer with 53 in 120 caps, and Manchester United’s after he overtook Bobby Charlton to finish with 253 goals in 559 appearances.
The former England captain has four goals in twelve games for Derby this season.
Lions boss Gary Rowett is aware not just of Rooney’s ability to dictate a game, but of a number of attacking threats his former side possesses.
“I’d expect Rooney and Tom Lawrence to play,” Rowett said. “I think it showed how much Derby have come on this season because they still won the Blackburn game with quite a few young players and performed really well at home.
“I know everyone highlights Rooney because of his experience and the top-drawer player he’s been and still is in a different way in the Championship.
“He certainly affects the game, the results have shown that since he joined. He’s had a big effect probably off the pitch as well as on the pitch. I’m sure that some of the younger players in particular are learning from him and feel like they need to up their game because he’s around.
“We’ll focus on how to stop Derby’s strengths and that might include Wayne Rooney, but it might also include Tom Lawrence, Martyn Waghorn, Chris Martin. They have a lot of players that we need to think about how do we nullify, or how we nullify their attacking threat.
“They’re a good side and have proved over the last 10 or 15 games they’re one of the form sides in the division.
“So we won’t highlight it too much, but, listen, people don’t need to be made aware of Rooney, because they know what a top-class player he’s been.
“We’re not going to be standing off him and allowing him to do what he wants just because of his career, we have to treat him like everyone else. If we give him time and space he’s got the execution, the delivery and the appreciation to be able to hurt any team.
“We’re mindful of that.”
Meanwhile, Billy Mitchell and Mahlon Romeo agreed long-term deals this week.
Rowett added: “It’s something we want to do. Some we can make decisions on early, some a little bit later. Ultimately we want to finish the season with a good idea of the squad that’s going to start next season.
“Particularly the young players that have potential and value, they are ones we want to tie down for longer.
“The likes of Mahlon – and Billy in different ways – he’s only 24 so it would be stupid to allow those contracts to run down.”
Image: Millwall FC