"Rooney has raised the standard of the club", says former Derby man

Marc Edworthy has been impressed by Rooney's impact

Wayne Rooney's Derby County are in full swing. The Rams have been in fine form since England's record scorer arrived: they beat Barnsley on Rooney's debut, and then knocked Premier League big boys Crystal Palace out of the FA Cup in the 3rd Round.

Speaking to Love Sport Radio, former Derby County defender Marc Edworthy said that Wayne Rooney has raised the standard of the players around him.

“He looked fit, he looked sharp, he’s really raised the standard of the football club, he’s very influential, he’s using all his experience. He needs to change gears in games when he has too, his passing - we’ve seen it with England before, when he sits in that deeper role he’s got a great passing range - and that showed again yesterday.”

“He’s lifted the morale in the team, we’ve gone three games on the trot now with wins, 2 of them with Rooney in the side. It’s looking very healthy for us at the moment.”

“20 games left in the championship, 60 points to play for there’s a lot of the season left to play for. With Wayne Rooney in the team, I’m not saying he’s got a magic wand but what he has done just with his presence on the field - you can see the players around him - there standard has gone to a different level.”

“With the respect value, he’s orchestrating things out there, he’s a calming influence at times but has got that aggression as he’s a real winner so 20 games to go, difficult away game to Middlesbrough at the weekend, it will be interesting to see how the remainder of the season pans out for us.”