Wayne Rooney has been urged by Sir Alex Ferguson to stop working so hard if he wants to rival Cristiano Ronaldo in the goalscoring stakes. Rooney has scored only six league goals for Manchester United this season, 13 fewer than Ronaldo, and, as the Barclays Premier League leaders travel to White Hart Lane to take on Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon, Ferguson has told the England forward that a more selfish approach would improve his fortunes.

“Wayne worked too hard on Wednesday [in the 2-0 win over Portsmouth],” Ferguson said. “That cost him the opportunity to get goals. We said to him that he didn’t need to expend so much energy dropping back into midfield. All Wayne has to do is make sure he looks after his energy a bit more, that’s all. Don’t worry, he’ll be banging them in soon.”

The United manager has had to send a similar message to Gary Neville, the captain, with regard to his troubled rehabilitation from an ankle injury. Neville has not played since March last year, raising doubts about his future, and Ferguson has said that the defender, who will be 33 this month, must “hold himself back” in training if he is to avoid picking up more minor injuries.

Even without Neville, Ferguson feels that his squad is in rude health. His only concern is that Arsenal and Chelsea have maintained their recent form, despite being without several players during the African Cup of Nations, which runs until Sunday week. Ferguson drew a laugh yesterday when he said that he was praying for Ghana and Ivory Coast to reach the final – leaving Chelsea without Michael Essien, Salomon Kalou and Didier Drogba and Arsenal without Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Eboué for another week – but he was serious.

“Arsène Wenger and Avram Grant know perfectly well what I’m hoping for,” the United manager said. “In fact, I hope it goes to a replay. I wonder if I could apply for there to be a replay.”