Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is full of praise for Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney ahead of tonight's clash.

Rooney has netted 21 times in the Barclays Premier League - his best tally for a season - and United have scored 61 goals to make them the division's leading scorers.

But Villa have the best defensive record in the top flight - just 18 goals conceded in 24 games - and shut out the Red Devils in a 1-0 win at Old Trafford in December.

O'Neill said: "It is Manchester United in town and at the moment they are playing particularly strongly.

"Rooney is in fantastic form. He has been an exceptional player for some time. He is probably playing the best he has ever played at the moment, scoring goals as well, which gives you a big boost of confidence.

"He has been a real top quality player for the last four or five years.

"Has he stepped up after the loss of Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo? It seems he has taken on even more responsibility and he is thriving on it.

"Yet last season, when United wanted to play him wide right or wide left to help maybe stop the opposition from playing, Rooney was the first one to volunteer.

"Now he (Sir Alex Ferguson) has got him playing basically as a centre-forward, either with Berbatov or on his own. He is up to the challenge and he is just a terrific footballer."