Wayne Rooney believes he has made his peace with England fans and is restoring his reputation as the country's talismanic player.

He ended a miserable run at international level as he grabbed a double - his first goals for the country in a year - in an impressive display as Bulgaria were beaten 3-0 in Sofia.

It had his former England and Manchester United team-mate Gary Neville calling on Fabio Capello to protect him from burn-out at the European Championships finals next summer.

Thank you: Wayne Rooney applauds the England fans

But the striker wanted to pay tribute to the fans who had once turned against him.

'What happened, happened. I'm sure the fans see that when I play, I give 110 per cent,' said Rooney, who swore at supporters when they booed the England team at last year's World Cup, after a 0-0 draw with Algeria.

'The fans were great on Friday. I thank them for their support and hope they enjoyed the evening. I enjoyed the game. At the top of the pitch, especially, we had a lot of energy and a lot of movement, with players rotating, making it really difficult for their defence to cope.'

Rooney's mood was a far cry from that which caused him to round on fans after that dismal draw against Algeria in a group game last June.

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