Referees may be picking on me, says Rooney

Manchester United's Wayne Rooney has said he fears he will spend the rest of his career having to cope with over-eager referees, but the forward has no plans to change his aggressive style.

Rooney was sent off in England's World Cup quarter-final exit at the hands of Portugal and was dismissed again in a friendly against Porto last week.

"Possibly I am getting picked on," he said at the launch of his book "Wayne Rooney - My Story So Far."

"Referees get a lot of headlines with some decisions they make. I am not having a go at referees but that is the way the game has gone. Sometimes, referees have to take the consequences of that.

"I play football the way I see it. It happens with Cristiano Ronaldo as well. He gets a lot of unfair decisions against him. The refs are trying to grab headlines too much rather than ref a game."

Rooney wants to put his World Cup woes behind him and plans to throw himself into a new season with Manchester United.

"I hope the World Cup can drive me on," he said. "There are a lot of disappointed people at our club from the World Cup."

Rooney returns to club action on August 20 against Fulham and will line-up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo with the pair coming under close scrutiny following their clash at the World Cup.

"Whenever England do not do well in a World Cup or a major tournament, people look for a scapegoat," Rooney said.

"Unfortunately, this year a lot of the press have turned on Cristiano. But I spoke to him. I am not going to lie... I was disappointed with his involvement in the sending off. But that is in the past now."

Meanwhile, United are planning to offer Rooney a new contract in a bid to keep him at the club for the rest of his career.

"It is something (chief executive) David Gill and I have discussed because we all know we want Wayne to stay here for a lifetime," manager Alex Ferguson said.

"He has the energy and enthusiasm and the desire to be at the top and we want young players like that."

Rooney's contract runs until 2010.