Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney: 'Experienced stars can lead us to win Premier League'

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has claimed the experienced trio of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and himself could help the other members of Louis van Gaal's squad to challenge for the Premier League title this season.

The Old Trafford side have managed to put behind them a slow start to the season with six consecutive victories against Crystal Palace, Arsenal, Stoke City, Hull, Southampton and Liverpool.

Even though most critics and fans had ruled out United for the Premier League title, Van Gaal's side are now third in the table, just eight points away from leaders Chelsea and five off second-place Manchester City.

The United captain is optimistic about their chances to clinch the title.

"I think we have to believe that we can win the title. We are eight points behind and coming into a busy period. If we can win our games and the others have one bad result then there's nothing in it," he said to Manchester United's official website.

"We have a lot of new players but we have been here before and this is where the experience of myself, Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher can rub off on the other players.

"We have to keep winning our games, hopefully get back to the top and then you never know. We have shown a great resilience. Some of the games haven't gone the way we would have liked but we are winning them and that is a great quality to have."

Even though United are on an impressive run, there are still doubts about the team's performance and the defence.

Rooney is aware Van Gaal's side are yet to reach their top form but he understands that playing poorly and getting three points is more important than playing attractive football and losing.

He said: "We won the league two years ago and we weren't great in a lot of those games but we got the results. Sometimes you have to do that. I have seen Chelsea a couple of times this season when they have not played great but have nicked a win as well. We need to try to get the performances right and, if we do that, then we are confident we will win the games."