Wayne Rooney ready for important clash against Derby County

Wayne Rooney is looking forward to Manchester United’s clash against Derby County on Friday night.

Off the back of a dismal, demoralising 1-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton, Man United players will want to beat Derby and build some sort of momentum back at the club.

Yet, fans’ morale is at a season low following the terrible loss last weekend and just how much it shows that we are not progressing anywhere at the moment.

For Rooney himself, the Southampton game put an end to his goalscoring run of form but is clearly looking to re-kindle that fire against Derby County, and my how Louis van Gaal needs it.

The Dutchman has his back to the wall with nowhere to turn. The pressure and scrutiny on his job this week has been immense but he is still in his job, somehow. Yet, a loss against Derby will surely turn even the staunchest of van Gaal advocates against him in the quick realisation that he really isn’t progressing us towards anything at the moment.

Will we win on Friday night? Your guess is as good as mine but with the club doing well in the Championship, they are currently fifth, it will not be a pushover game by any stretch of the imagination.

Wayne Rooney's Manchester United to play Everton for England captain's summer testimonial

Rooney will give large chunk of money raised to Merseyside-based Alder Hey and Claire House hospice.

Everton will play Manchester United at Old Trafford this summer for Wayne Rooney's testimonial just a week before the new Premier League season begins.

The former Blue and captain of both United and England will give a huge chunk of the cash raised to Alder Hey children's hospital and Claire House hospice in Wirral.

It is understood that Rooney, who has brought son Kai to watch the Toffees at Goodison Park this season, made his boyhood club his first choice.

Rooney was awarded a testimonial, including a match at Old Trafford on August 3, to mark 12 years with the Red Devils back in October.

Last summer he pulled on a royal blue shirt again to play for an Everton XI in Duncan Ferguson's testimonial.

Rooney and son Kai attend the match between Everton and Crystal Palace at Goodison Park on December 7.

And now it has been revealed that Roberto Martinez has agreed for Rooney to face his former side after consulting with the Blues board.

The likely televised game will be Everton's last high profile warm-up fixture before the 2016/17 Premier League campaign gets underway.

It is believed that both clubs have agreed that it will be a fully competitive fixture, without any second half slacking of pace and cameos of former players as is usually the way in these types of games.

Croxteth-born Rooney has set up the Wayne Rooney Foundation to distribute cash from the game and allow him to offer continued charity support.

Wayne Rooney made a surprise visit to St Laurence's Catholic Primary School in Kirkby to present a health and fitness award in December.

This will distribute the cash to the NSPCC , Alder Hey, Clare House Hospice and the Manchester United Foundation.

After being granted the honour Rooney said: "I would like to thank everyone involved in making this testimonial become a reality.

"Most of all I want to thank the fans for all their incredible support for me and the team since I joined the club.

Duncan Ferguson embraces old team-mate Wayne Rooney.

"The match night will obviously be special for me and my family but I hope it will be a night of celebration for all involved and that we can also deliver one or two surprises.

"Most of all I hope the fans will come out in force and help raise as much money as possible for these amazing charities, all of which are very close to my heart for different reasons."

Rooney, who earns around £250,000-a-week, told United and Everton from the very outset that he wanted every penny raised to go to charities.