
Wayne Rooney wants Manchester United to share the burden of responsibility for absorbing Ruud van Nistelrooy's 30-goal-a-season haul.
Sir Alex Ferguson appears to have abandoned his quest to bring in a replacement for Van Nistelrooy, instead placing his faith in Rooney, Louis Saha and Cristiano Ronaldo to fill the void left by the Dutchman's departure for Real Madrid.
All three were on target in Sunday's five-goal hammering of Fulham, providing the perfect response to the pundits who claimed Ferguson had made a major blunder in not patching up his differences with Van Nistelrooy.
However, Rooney knows the contributions must be sustained.
And, while Ferguson has expressed confidence in Saha's ability to hit the 20-goal mark this term providing he stays injury free, the England striker realises United's entire squad must do their bit.
"A lot has been said about the fact we cannot fill Ruud's boots," said Rooney.
"I am not saying we can but what we are trying to do is spread the goals out throughout the team, so in that sense it was good myself, Louis and Cristiano all managed to get a goal."
While the promise of Rooney and Ronaldo is evident for all to see, it is Saha who must really make an impact this season.
Plagued by injuries since his £12.8million switch from Fulham in January 2004, the Frenchman has often hinted at being a top-class striker without ever quite managing to maintain his best form on a consistent basis.
The 27-year-old's performance at the back end of last season, when he scored 13 times in 15 starts, was enough to justify his consistent inclusion above Van Nistelrooy, prompting the former PSV Eindhoven's massive bust-up with Ferguson prior to the final game against Charlton.
Far from being ecstatic at Van Nistelrooy's exit, Saha believes it to be 'a shame', although he refutes the suggest more pressure is on him as a result.
"It is a shame Ruud left," he said.
"We will all have to work hard to try to fill that gap.
"But I don't believe there is more pressure on me. I will just carry on doing my best, work hard and see what happens.
"Scoring goals is good for the confidence, both of individuals and the team and hopefully that will continue in the matches ahead."
Rooney's brace was particularly welcome as the brilliant forward will not now be seen again on domestic duty until the home clash with Arsenal on September 17 following his controversial three-match ban.
"They were my first competitive goals since the game at Tottenham last April and it was playing on my mind a little bit," said Rooney, whose barren run actually extended to just 82 minutes given he broke his foot against Chelsea immediately after the Spurs win.
"I didn't want to get to the middle of September without scoring, so it is a bit of a relief.
"Now, all I can do is carry on training. Maybe I will ask the gaffer for a couple of days off - but I doubt that will happen."
Although the win - the biggest opening-day top flight success United have recorded in their history - has swept away much of the gloom which enveloped Old Trafford this summer, Ferguson and his squad know it is far too soon to be talking about a title tilt.
Unlike Arsenal and Liverpool, they may have managed to keep pace with Chelsea after one game but much more is required to do it over 38.
They will visit Charlton on Wednesday without Rooney, Paul Scholes and, possibly, Ryan Giggs, £18.6million new boy Michael Carrick is not likely to be available until next weekend's trip to Watford and an attempt to lure Owen Hargreaves from Bayern Munich is no nearer reaching a successful conclusion.
Nevertheless, at least the Red Devils began the campaign with the verve traditionally associated with a club whose expanded capacity allowed them to set a Premiership record crowd of 75,115.
"You don't get away with playing dull football at this club," said Rooney.
"You walk out onto the pitch and the noise is deafening.
"United fans love seeing us attack teams. That is what we like to do and hopefully that will continue."
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