Wayne Rooney: I'm desperate to win the FA Cup with Manchester United

Wayne Rooney: I'm desperate to win the FA Cup with Manchester United

FA Cup 3rd Round: Southampton v Man United, 4pm

After winning the Champions League, two Premier League titles and the League Cup, the Manchester United striker is desperate to complete his medal collection.

Rooney has bittersweet memories of the oldest football competition in the world. He watched boyhood heroes Everton humble United in the 1995 final only to suffer cup heart breakas a player in Cardiff and Wembley finals.

The 23-year-old went home with the man-of-the-match award but a loser's medal when United lost to Arsenal on penalties at the Millennium Stadium in 2005.

And in the first final to be played at the new Wembley, Didier Drogba's extra-time winner for Chelsea brought more pain in 2007.

Rooney said: "The FA Cup is the only trophy I haven't won yet and I am absolutely desperate to get my hands on it.

"I've lost two finals with United and that is something that frustrates me and that I want to put right.

"What made those defeats even harder to take was that we could have won both times, but Arsenal and Chelsea got lucky on the day.

"I know a lot of people tend to regard the Premier League and the Champions League as the only trophies that matter, but to me the FA Cup is magical.

"One of my best memories as a kid was travelling to Wembley to see Everton beat United 1-0 in 1995.

"I was nine-years-old and I can still remember every single minute of it and the wonderful feeling when the final whistle went. Ever since I have wanted to lift the Cup.

"It has always been a major trophy and it always will be."

Rooney added: "Even when we won the Premier League and Champions League last season, there was massive disappointment around the club when we lost to Portsmouth in the Cup.

"We all wanted to win it - and it is the same this season.

"I was man-of-the-match when we lost the final to Arsenal on penalties and the award meant absolutely nothing to me.

"I've still got the trophy I received, but every time I look at it the bad memories come flooding back.

"It's a little reminder of how much it hurts when you lose."

Rooney's appetite for honours has not been sated by United's domination at home and abroad.

Last month he scored the goal that saw United crowned club world champions in Japan.

But he explained: "It took me a long time to win my first trophy with United and the experience just makes you want even more.

"The feeling of success doesn't last very long at this club. You get a night to enjoy it. You have the celebration and that's it, the next morning the manager demands that you concentrate on the next challenge.

"I remember Ryan Giggs telling me to make the most of every single success because the moment flashes past you.

"But it's a great feeling.

"The more you experience it the more you want to feel it again."

And as United enter 2009 with an historic quadruple still a possibility, headed: "As far as I'm concerned, we have got the ability and quality to win absolutely everything.

"We've got a big, strong squad with the experience of winning the biggest prizes.

"If we can get some good luck along them way then it is definitely a possibility.

"We will need that good fortune.

"If we are still involved in everything in the final weeks of the season,it becomes very difficult when the big games start to pile up.

"But when you become a Manchester United player you try to win every trophy that you compete for."