Soccer Shorts

Other soccer stories in brief

Rooney to raise his game

Wayne Rooney has admitted his last two Manchester United performances have not been good enough. After serving a three-match domestic ban and missing all three England games so far this season, it was little surprise that Rooney should be off the pace in last week's Champions League win over Celtic.

Much better was expected against Arsenal at the weekend but, again, the 20-year-old struggled to make an impact. Eventually, to his own frustration and the astonishment of many United fans, he was replaced by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Rooney looked clearly unhappy as he watched the remainder of the Old Trafford defeat from the home bench.

However, he now accepts his recent displays have been below-par. "I am disappointed with my own form in the last two games," he said. "It has not been up to the standard I normally play. I am disappointed with that but I will keep working hard and hopefully my game will come back again."

Alex Ferguson has no fears on that score but, like many of his players, the Scot felt Rooney suffered at the weekend as a direct result of the effort expended in beating Celtic in what proved to be a titanic tussle. Rooney accepts there may be some truth in his manager's assessment, especially given his brief post-match chat with Paul Scholes, who had spent a similar amount of time on the sidelines.

"The Celtic game was quite tough," said Rooney. "It was a big game and there was a lot of pressure on us to win it. I spoke to Paul afterwards and we were both quite tired. Nevertheless, losing against Arsenal was a big blow. We have made a good start to the season and we wanted it to continue. Even a draw would not have been too bad but to lose in the last 10 minutes was devastating."

O'Neill to meet Lerner

Martin O'Neill is set to hold talks later this week with new Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner, who has now acquired almost 90 per cent of the club's shares. Lerner is jetting in from America to watch the clash at Scunthorpe and Saturday's Barclays Premiership encounter with Charlton at Villa Park.

O'Neill is to stage discussions with Lerner, the owner of NFL side Cleveland Browns, between the two games. O'Neill admitted the January transfer window, when he will be keen to strengthen his squad, will be one of the items on the agenda.

Despite Villa's unbeaten start to the season, O'Neill is aware of the need to bring in new bodies and knows two or three injuries will leave him short of numbers.

Lerner is also keen to press on with the £8million redevelopment of Villa's Bodymoor Heath training complex and plans to make Villa Park a 50,000-capacity stadium.

O'Neill said: "We are going to sit down on Thursday or Friday and Mr Lerner will outline what he has in mind for the club and hopefully he will listen to what I have to say about it myself."

Cotterill favourite

Burnley boss Steve Cotterill is the new favourite to be Bryan Robson's successor as manager of West Brom, according to bookmakers.

The former Cheltenham Town chief was initially 12 to 1 to replace the former England captain but is now the 3 to 1 front-runner. Early favourite Alan Curbishley has slipped from 6 to 4 to 7 to 2 after apparently ruling himself out of the running.

Albion assistant boss Nigel Pearson is 5 to 1 with former Rangers manager Alex McLeish and Luton manager Mike Newell both at 6 to 1.

McPhail's goals target

Stephen McPhail has admitted Cardiff City boss Dave Jones has given him a goal target for this season - but is keeping the figure very much under wraps.

The Republic of Ireland international midfielder has yet to find the back of the net as the Bluebirds have stormed to the top of the Championship table. But the former Leeds United ace is determined to eventually get on the score-sheet towards achieving his target.

"Dave Jones and I had a chat about goal scoring and we have set a personal target," said McPhail. "But I'm not going to say what that is because it will put undue pressure on myself, but it is single figures." McPhail arrived at Ninian Park in the summer after turning down a new contract with Championship rivals Barnsley.

Hyde seeks goals

Burnley's Micah Hyde is striving to find his scoring touch after impressive recent form failed to yield goals. The Jamaican international has played his part in several recent goals, including Andy Gray's winner against Stoke at the weekend, and is now hoping to add his name to the scoresheet.

"I'm trying to but since I've come to Burnley the goals have dried up," he said. "I keep plugging away, though, and am trying to score more consistently. I am trying to get in the box more but at least I am helping with the assists.

"I'm pleased with the way I'm playing but you always think you can do better. As long as we are winning though, I'm happy, it doesn't matter who scores."