Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits the expectations on Wayne Rooney will only increase next season with a World Cup on the horizon.

"There will be an expectation about Wayne Rooney this season purely because he is English," Ferguson said.

"Without question he is the main striker that England's hopes will be pinned on at the World Cup, so that is where the expectation is all coming from.

"But I would like to see the boy develop his game in a lot of departments.

"He is 23 now. You will get the maturity when he gets to 25. Then there will be a more consistent nature to his game."

Rooney added: "A lot of players go on little runs of scoring three or four in a row, then they have a couple of weeks off, come back and score five in a row.

"Wayne has periods like that. He has a little bit to do to get rid of it. That is where the maturity side has to come into it.

"He has the hunger and the natural ability to do a lot of these things. All he has to do is show the maturity to get there."