Former Ram Backs Rooney To Be A Success At Derby

Former Derby County defender Stephen Warnock has backed Wayne Rooney to make an impact when he links up with the Rams as a player-coach in January.

The 33-year-old forward, who is Manchester United and England's all-time record goalscorer, will join Derby on an initial 18-month contract from the start of 2020.

News of Rooney’s impending arrival was confirmed yesterday afternoon and, after putting pen-to-paper, he appeared at a press conference alongside manager Phillip Cocu later in the day at Pride Park Stadium.

Warnock, who will be appearing as a pundit on ‘EFL on Quest’ this Saturday at 9pm, made 30 appearances for Derby over the course of the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons.

The 37-year-old former left-back said: “I don’t think he’ll struggle at all.

“You only have to look at DC United. When he went in there they were struggling, they hadn’t won a game in a long time. He went in and set the standards in and around the training ground.

“There was a story very early on, on his first or second day, he told people to do their work better, standards needed to be higher.

“I think that’s what you get from players who’ve played at a world class level and played at the level he’s played at, they’re infectious in what they do in setting high standards and they expect others to be the same as well. So, I don’t think that’ll be an issue for him.”

Warnock, who played alongside Rooney for England on the international stage, believes he will be a huge advantage to the Rams in the crucial second half of the season in the Sky Bet Championship.

“I think he’s gone over to America and proven that he’s still very fit and still very hungry,” he said.

“He’s at a stage in his career where he knows he can play in a deeper lying role. But he’s even shown out in America that he can still play up top and still score and assist plenty of goals too.

“So, from Derby’s point of view to have him there on the pitch is a massive asset in the second half of the season.”

Warnock thinks the Rams’ players will learn a lot from having Rooney’s presence in the dressing room come January.

He said: “You’ve got to embrace him coming in and you’ve got to want to give him the ball. You’ve got to want to learn off him in training, watch what he does in training and listen to him because he’ll know things that other players won’t know, especially the younger lads, so he’ll have a voice for them.

“You’ve got to listen to people like Wayne.”

‘EFL on Quest’ will be available to watch at 9pm each Saturday throughout the season on Freeview channel 12, Freesat channel 167, Sky channel 144 and Virgin channel 217 while fans can catch up on the show via QuestOD.co.uk.