Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has praised teammate Dimitar Berbatov’s good scoring form at the start of the season but dismissed comparisons made in certain quarters that the Bulgarian international is the new Eric Cantona.

Demonstrating his best form since moving from Tottenham Hotspur two years ago, Berbatov has already netted six times since August including a match-winning hattrick against Liverpool in last month’s 3-2 win.

Speaking to EA Sports at a launch for the new FIFA 11 game, Rooney spoke openly about his admiration for the 29-year-old.

“He’s doing well; he’s scored a few goals at the start of the season. We always knew he had those qualities and thankfully for us he’s managing now to do it more consistently and score more consistently which is helpful for us.”

“He holds the ball up well and as you can see from the start of this season he’s getting in the box more which is obviously he’s benefitted from with his goals. If he can keep doing that for us then it’ll be a good season for him.”

“When we’re playing we’ve done well together, but we haven’t played that much together this season. It’s been either him or me. I’m sure if we play together more it will [get better].”

Asked if he could see any similarities between Berbatov and Cantona, the England attacker played down such likeness reflecting, “Not really no. Berba is a great player and a nice lad but I think Cantona was more in midfield and breaking forward.”

“Berba is more of a forward who drops in to finds us spaces. Cantona was more about being in the space in midfield rather than dropping in from forward.”

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Paul Ince insists Dimitar Berbatov is NOT the new Eric Cantona.

Ince played alongside the Cantona for Sir Alex Ferguson’s 1994 Double winners and says Berbatov cannot be compared to him.

The Guv’nor feels Cantona was a class apart and that it is unfair to burden the former Tottenham man with such a comparison when he is already having to live up to his record £30.75m price tag.

“I don’t see the comparison between the two which other people are making,” he said.

“You can’t compare Berbatov and Cantona, they are different players.

“Cantona was a one-off and I think it’s a bit unfair to put that pressure on Berbatov straight away.”

Ince is fiercely protective of the memory of Ferguson’s first great side and maintains that it was the best of all his great Old Trafford teams.

“I don’t think the current side are better than we were,”

he said. “I think all the teams that Sir Alex has had have been fantastic. I’ve heard him refer to us as his dream team and we were a dream.

“What stands out about that 1993-94 team was the number of strong characters and egos that he had to deal with. It wasn’t so much our ability that made us so successful, but that arrogance.”

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