MIDDLESBROUGH goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer has hailed Wayne Rooney's outstanding talents ahead of Manchester United's visit to the Riverside - but says the striker is far from the finished article.

Schwarzer prepares to face England's precocious centre forward, and his United colleagues this evening, confident he can preserve his goal which has not been breached in 300 minutes of open play.

Only Gareth Barry, from the penalty spot, has managed to find a way past the Australian international since Watford's Ashley Young netted in the 60th minute at Vicarage Road last month.

But while Schwarzer rates Rooney highly, he believes the Red Devils' £25m frontman still has a lot to learn before he can earn the world-class moniker.

"Rooney is a top-class player. Whether he is world class at the moment is open to debate," said the 34-year-old. "He scores a million great goals and is a very good player.

"It is very debatable whether you class a player world class or not. He is top class without a doubt, it goes without saying. Whether I would define him as world class is another thing.

"But if he continues the way he is going he will be world class for many years to come.

"Every player has a lot to learn and he's only 21. It is difficult to play against a player who is world class like Thierry Henry, Ruud van Nistelrooy or Ronaldo.

"But Rooney is one of those players where there is nothing going on, and then it has turned in to a world-class moment on the pitch within a split second."

Boro have generally saved their best for the Premiership's big boys in the last few seasons, and have enjoyed consecutive home victories over champions Chelsea in the last two seasons.

But Boro saved arguably their best performance at the Riverside last term for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, when they handed out a 4-1 thrashing last October.

United visit the Riverside three points clear at the top of the Premiership following their most consistent start to a season in years.

Schwarzer acknowledged United were replicating the form which last made them league champions, but still believes Boro will be more than a match today.

He said: "They seem to be getting back to the way when they were overpowering teams and outplaying them. They used to hit you in waves and it looks as if they are doing that again.

"Man United are a top-class side and in particular this season they seem to have found the form of four and five years ago, when they were phenomenal.

"They have lifted the bar this season, and they've needed too, as Chelsea have dominated for the last few years.

"But saying that they were on the top of their game when we played them last year and we beat them well. Hopefully we can do the same at the weekend."

Schwarzer says it would not be right to comment on whether he is in the best form of his career at the moment, but he did acknowledge goalkeepers do get better with age and hailed two of his more experienced Premier League counterparts.

He added: "Edwin van der Sar is a top-class keeper without a doubt. He is one of the top keepers in Europe, if not the world. And David James is a top-class goalkeeper. I'm surprised he's not part of the England set-up. If he is not the best goalkeeper in England then he is on a par."