Rio Hails Roo & Ron

Rio Ferdinand has praised United's talismanic duo Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo for their recent performances, but he warns that the pair must maintain their form in order to fire the Reds to glory this season.

Rooney returned from a spell on the sidelines over Christmas to turn the game against Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round. Ronaldo smashed three past Newcastle in the 6-0 win at Old Trafford, before both scored to defeat Reading side at the weekend.

"Ronny's doing OK," Rio joked. "And long may it continue. The season isn't finished now and there are no trophies being handed out, so we need him to keep doing that, to keep getting goals."

Rooney was desperately unlucky not to find the net against Newcastle. He has scored in three of the last four games, but admits he should have put away chances against the Magpies and at Reading.

"The thing about Wayne is that he keeps plugging away," says Rio. "He may have missed a few chances in the last couple of games, but he keeps on getting in the right positions. If a forward isn't getting into the positions to score then you should be worried. But Wazza doesn't get too disheartened."

Ferdinand is currently with the rest of the squad in Saudi Arabia after Monday's 3-2 defeat in the testimonial for the country's most famous player, Sami Al-Jaber. The Reds now have a couple of days to relax and train before returning to Manchester on Thursday to prepare for Sunday's FA Cup fourth round tie against Tottenham.

Rio believes the break will do United good. He said: "It’s a change of environment and hopefully it will be good for us when we come back. We’ll train hard and be back ready for the FA Cup."