Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has said that he is determined to help his side win against Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday.

The 28-year-old believes that victory over the Merseyside club at Old Trafford would boost their confidence ahead of their Champions League clash against Olympiacos on Wednesday.

"For me, beating Liverpool is always special because of who I am and where I come from, but for a club like Manchester United it can't be just about stopping Liverpool," he told The Mirror. "We want to win because of what it means to us. This is a massive period. Liverpool, then Olympiacos in the Champions League and next week it's the derby against Manchester City.

"Those games will go a long way to shaping our season. We still haven't given up on fourth place and we also think the tie against Olympiacos is retrievable. But we have to be realistic. We have to beat Liverpool because we are running out of games, and if they get a result against us then the gap would probably be too big.

"If we win, then it will give us a lot of confidence that the season is still alive. It's a big challenge – but for as long as I've been at Manchester United we have always relished big challenges."

United suffered a 2-0 defeat to Olympiacos in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Athens last month.