West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has hailed Wayne Rooney as the best English footballer of his era, but hopes the Manchester United captain doesn't play when the two teams meet on Wednesday night in the FA Cup.
Rooney is in contention to feature in United's FA Cup replay clash with West Ham at Upton Park tonight after making his first appearance in two months in the club's Under-21 win over Middlesbrough two days ago.
The forward played 60 minutes in the game at Old Trafford on Monday, with boss Louis van Gaal making it clear afterwards that the 30-year-old is in line to make the trip to London.
Despite revealing his admiration for Rooney, Bilic admits he hopes the United skipper doesn't feature against the Hammers in the FA Cup.
"I would rather he didn’t play tomorrow night," Bilic said.
"[Whether he is] Seventy per cent, 100 per cent fit, I would rather he watched the game.
"I am a massive Rooney fan - since he stepped on the pitch in an Everton shirt.
"He is for me... I don’t know, I can’t talk about Jimmy Greaves or Bobby Charlton or Bobby Moore or any of them – let’s say my football era, Rooney is the best English player."
