Jamie O’Hara is of the opinion that Wayne Rooney should not celebrate if he scores against Manchester United in tonight’s FA Cup match.
The 34-year-old established himself as one of United’s all-time greats during his 13-year stint at Old Trafford, becoming the highest scorer in the club’s history with 259 goals in 553 appearances across all competitions. Rooney currently plies his trade at Derby County who take on the Red Devils at Pride Park Stadium tonight with a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals at stake.
SEE MORE: Man Utd team news: Injured quartet set to miss Derby County clash
While speaking to talkSPORT, when asked if he would celebrate scoring a goal against United, the 34-year-old replied: “Of course, I’m a Derby County player. I know this game means a lot to the fans, to the players, to the staff here, and of course I’ll celebrate.”
However, O’Hara feels that Rooney should not celebrate if he scores out of respect to his former club. As quoted by the Daily Star, the Billericay Town player-manager said: “I think it’s fair enough him saying he wants Derby to win, but I don’t think he should celebrate if he scores. For Rooney, he’s a legend at Manchester United. He’s scored a lot of goals for them and given them some fantastic memories. So I think it’s just a respect thing there.”
Rooney has done fairly well for Derby this season so far, netting four goals and providing two assists in 14 appearances across all competitions so far. The Rams will undoubtedly be relying heavily on him if they are to knock United out of the FA Cup tonight.
In the past, we have seen some players who haven’t celebrated after scoring against their former club, a notable example being Frank Lampard in 2014. However, given that Rooney has already made his intentions clear, it won’t be a surprise if he celebrates but it won’t mean any disrespect to Man United if he does so as long as he doesn’t do an Adebayor (which the 34-year-old almost certainly won’t).
