Wayne Rooney relieved to avoid Ferguson's anger

Rooney played a key part in Man Utd's late win

Wayne Rooney was relieved to avoid the wrath of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after dropping a second-half clanger in the 3-1 win over Hull.

Rooney gave United the lead on the stroke of half-time, but a misjudged back-pass led to a Hull penalty from which Craig Fagan equalised.

"It's a relief," said the England striker. "Their equaliser was a mistake by myself and it's not a nice feeling."

"Thankfully we got the win, or the manager won't have been too pleased."

Rooney's error was the catalyst for a match-wining performance from the England international, who went on to force an Andy Dawson own goal before creating United's third for Dimitar Berbatov.

"I didn't want to let the lads down, and at the time it looked like that - but it happens, and we got the win in the end," added Rooney.

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"I think it's a mad league, a lot of teams are dropping points and it's really close. Hopefully we can be more consistent in the second half of the season and retain our title."

United's hopes of realising that ambition rest at least partly in the hands of Rooney, whose first-half effort, prodded home from a Darren Fletcher cross, was his 13th Premier League goal of the season.

The victory moves United to within two points of league leaders Chelsea, and Ferguson readily acknowledged the significance of Rooney's pivotal contribution.

"He was a threat to them all day, his penetration behind their back line was very good," said Ferguson.

"He made a mistake in giving the ball away for the goal, that was his one bad moment in the game, but I thought he was exceptionally good today.

Rooney thankful for win at Hull

"He's a natural winner, he's always had that great attitude and determination to do well and he would be even more sick than anyone when he made a mistake.

"But he rectified it and everything's fine."

Ferguson did, however, stress that avoiding mistakes would play a key role in the eventual destination of the title.

"There are some unusual results going round and it's going to be a really tight league," he added.

"Experience will come into it, and I think the team that stays clear of injuries will also have an advantage.

"Other than that, if you make mistakes you're going to get punished. If you eradicate mistakes, whoever does that will have a great chance."