Rooney looks to win Europa League

Manchester United will learn their Europa League opponents today with striker Wayne Rooney believing they can make a strong push to win the competition.

The Barclays Premier League champions find themselves in the second-tier European tournament after crashing out of the Champions League last week.

Their demotion was met with understandable disappointment at a club that has appeared in three of the last four Champions League finals but Rooney does not want to dwell on it any longer.

The 26-year-old told the club's website, www.manutd.com: "It's a shame we're out of the Champions League. That's what we all want to play in.

"Unfortunately we went out and now we turn our attention to the Premier League and Europa League.

"I don't think the manager's won the Europa League, so I'm sure he'll want to win it.

"Every competition we enter we want to win.

"There are some good teams but we have to believe, keep working and hopefully we can go on and win it."

United will appear alongside rivals Manchester City in today's draw for the last 32 of the competition.

The neighbours are due to meet in the FA Cup third round next month.

Rooney said: "Both teams would probably rather have met each other later on but it's a great team to play in and if you win it then you know you've knocked one of your main competitors out."

United, who bounced back from their damaging Champions League loss to Basle by thrashing Wolves 4-1 last weekend, will have to move forward without captain Nemanja Vidic and midfielder Darren Fletcher.

Vidic, the captain, will miss the rest of the season with knee ligament damage while midfielder Fletcher is taking an indefinite break to recover from the bowel condition ulcerative colitis.

Rooney said: "The two of them are both important players for us.

"With Nemanja being our captain it's a shame we've lost him for the season as he's a great defender. But the younger lads have been great.

"It's a shame for Darren, too - he's a great player and a great person.

"Hopefully he gets well soon and comes back strongly for us."