Manchester United defender Phil Jones says that Wayne Rooneyand Michael Carrick should be appreciated now and not when their careers at the club are over.
Carrick and Rooney have made 980 appearances for the club and in that time they have won five Premier League titles and a Champions League in the process.
Rooney and Carrick must be appreciated now, says Jones
Despite the pair slowing down though, they still have a big part to play this season under Jose Mourinho and Jones revealed that the pair still continue to inspire him to play better for the club.
Speaking to manutd.com after the win against Reading, Jones said that "Rooney is that guy" the guy that everyone goes too and everyone in the squad "knows that".
Jones added that "everyone knows that the likes of him and Michael Carrick" are players in the dressing room that the "lads certainly look up to" and we now "all proud of Wayne" for equaling the goalscoring record at United.
The defender went on to say that at the minute everyone takes Rooney and Carrick "for granted now that they are here" but when they are not there everyone will say "we could do with them now" so the thing is to "appreciate them now" as they are very important to the team going forward this season.
Jones backs world-class Rooney to go down in history as the best
Rooney now will go in search of getting the goal that will mean he overtakes Sir Bobby Charlton's record with Hull City the next opponents in the EFL Cup semi-final on Tuesday night and Jones feels that the United skipper is a fantastic player for both club and country and deserves more respect than he is currently getting.
Jones said that Rooney is a "fantastic player for what he's done for club and country" but he still receives a lot of criticism from everyone but for Jones, Rooney is a "world-class player and he will go down in history" for what he has managed to achieve in his career.