Fergie hails in-form Rooney

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson hailed Wayne Rooney after the in-form striker netted four goals to beat Hull City at Old Trafford.

The England striker put Ferguson side's one up after eight minutes but United could not then see-off the Tigers, who had a chance to level via substitute Kamel Ghilas with 15 minutes to go.

But Rooney scored three late goals to send United two points clear of Arsenal and Chelsea at the top of the Premier League, although Ferguson's side have played two games more than the Blues.

Ferguson told Sky Sports: "Wayne's four goals obviously was the highlight of the match and he's in great goal-scoring form just now and for me, it was the special part of the game.

"We played some good football at times, we had some really good combination play but I thought we were a bit frivolous in our game today.

"I thought we took unnecessary risks at times and we should have been punished by Hull when we scored the early goal.

"But credit to Hull - they keep on battling away - they know what they are battling for, they are battling for survival and every team down there does that and they proved that last week at Tottenham and got a 0-0 result.

"Today they were just as tenacious in their tackling and fighting for each other and organisation so it was a longish day, unnecessary so I think."

Ferguson was pleased to be back on top of the Premier League for the first time since October.

"We're happy at that and it doesn't do our goal difference any harm at all," he said, believing being top of the league at this stage of the season is significant.

"I know that Chelsea have games in hand but they have got to win those games.

"(If) we can keep the momentum going and keep the consistency going then we'll have a chance."

The United boss was also pleased that England defender Rio Ferdinand was back and came through the 90 minutes.

"Terrific yes - it was great to see him back.

"He's got the composure, he's got that great experience and I thought apart from that spell just before, about 20 minutes to go when they got a few balls into the box, I thought we looked pretty comfortable at the back."