Man U not the same team without Rooney: Sam Allardyce

London, Apr 12 (ANI): Rovers boss Sam Allardyce has said that misfiring Manchester United just aren't the same playing squad without their ace striker Wayne Rooney.

With Roo injured, United boss Sir Alex Ferguson went with Dimitar Berbatov and Federico Macheda up front at Blackburn.

And, after the duo failed to score, Ferguson realised just how much United miss Rooney.

"Are they as good without Rooney? No they're not. Statistics tell you that their third-biggest scorer is own goals - and that's very unlike United," said Rovers boss Allardyce.

"You would expect them to score, given the chances they have had. I don't think we rattled Berbatov. We made a contact on him as we needed to early on. You can't let a player as good as him get on the ball," The Sun quoted him, as saying.

Allardyce's men played brilliantly rock against the United.

"We were outstanding. This home record is looking very good now. We've had Chelsea here twice - once in the Cup, once in the league - and they have not beaten us.

"Liverpool have been here and not beaten us and now Manchester United have not beaten us either. It shows how much we've grown in stature this season after a difficult start, with so many changes in the summer," Allardyce said.

"Real credit must go to the players for their organisation, defence and resilience. Paul Robinson pulled off a good save for us before half-time - a critical time. But we got better in the second half, which I hoped we would.

"I thought United would tire after their exploits on Wednesday night. We created more in the second half, which was pleasing and stayed solid at the back," he said.

"The basis of any success of any team anywhere in the world is their clean sheet record," Allardyce added. (ANI)