Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
ROONEY TELLS REDS’ MENGI: DECISION TO STAY IS YOURS
WAYNE ROONEY insists he will not put pressure on Manchester United’s on-loan defender Teden Mengi to stay for a second loan spell at Pride Park.
Derby manager Rooney persuaded the 18-year-old (above) to join the Rams during the transfer window and has been delighted with what he has seen from the young star.
Mengi had been training with United’s first-team squad and made one senior appearance under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in a Europa League tie against LASK in August. He has just agreed a new contract at United.
Rooney said: “It is on the player. I want to make sure we finish the season strong.
“I feel he has improved a lot and shown he can play at this level.”
Reading skipper Liam Moore admits his Royals were left devastated by Lucas Joao’s horror miss in Good Friday’s 1-1 draw at Barnsley.
Joao’s howler (the Portuguese star reacts, above) came in the 74th minute at Oakwell, when Reading team-mate Yakou Meite outmuscled Tykes goalkeeper Brad Collins.
The ball fell to Joao, who inexplicably rifled wide of an empty net from 12 yards, to ensure the honours were shared between the play-off rivals.
Moore said: “If you had a player-cam on every player at the final whistle, you could see we were all gutted.
“But the games come thick and fast, and we need to stand up and be counted against Derby on Monday now. We need to go again.”
ROY HODGSON has warned that Crystal Palace risk losing stars to Premier League rivals in a summer of potential contract chaos at Selhurst Park. The former England boss’s current deal runs out at the end of the season, along with players including Christian Benteke, Andros Townsend, Patrick van Aanholt, Gary Cahill, James Mcarthur, James Mccarthy and Mamadou Sakho. Townsend revealed last week that he has “really struggled” with the uncertainty over his future, after being told no talks will be held