The striker has praised the club’s supporters following their derby defeat to Manuel Pellegrini’s side but maintains fans must stay “strong” during David Moyes’s reign

Wayne Rooney has urged Manchester United fans to understand the club have gone through “a big change” following their derby defeat to City.

A double from Edin Dzeko and Yaya Toure’s late strike sealed a comfortable victory for Manuel Pellegrini’s men at Old Trafford, which has put them three points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea with two games in hand.

The loss was United’s 14th of the season, while pressure continues to grow on manager David Moyes following the club’s inconsistent results.

“[The fans] were great again tonight,” Rooney told MUTV.

“As a team, we need them to be strong and to understand there has been a big change at the club.

“We have to step up and start giving the fans something to cheer about with some good performances and wins.

“It’s a bad night and we didn’t deserve to win. We weren’t clinical enough and we didn’t create enough chances.

“No-one likes to lose a derby game – they’re big games and they’re great to win, but when you lose it’s not a great feeling. For the fans and for us, we have to win more and stay together.”

When asked about the cause of United’s sub-par campaign, Rooney replied: “I don’t know but it’s not good enough.

“We can’t lose six homes games in a season and we have to put that right, and make this a place which teams fear again.

“It’s probably been the story of our season so far that we’ve got a couple of good results and then one which sets us back a bit. We know we have to respond. It’s a bad night for us all but we have to move on.”