WAYNE Rooney has called for a more ‘clinical’ approach from his Plymouth Argyle side ahead of their Sky Bet Championship clash with Middlesbrough at Home Park tomorrow (3pm).

Although victories have been hard to come by for the Pilgrims in recent weeks - they sit just a place off the foot of the table - Rooney has been encouraged by recent displays against both Swansea City and high-flying Sheffield United.

Now, he hopes improvements made will come to the fore ahead of what is a busy festive period for the club, who face five fixtures in the space of just 15 days.

Speaking to Argyle TV, Rooney said: “I really enjoy the Christmas period of games. As a player, you’re playing, you're training, recovery, playing. You're playing every few days and if you can build momentum and be consistent in this period then, your whole outlook of where you're at looks a lot different.

“It's an important part of the season for all clubs. For us, we've got tough games, we know that. It’s Middlesbrough, then two tough away games, Bristol City at home, Stoke away. It's a really busy period of tough games, but we have to go in there with a belief that we can pick up some really good results.

“I think there were a lot of positives from the last game. The result wasn’t what we wanted, but it was certainly a lot better than the previous game [against Swansea].

“Swansea was an improvement on the previous two games, and I think Sheffield United was an improvement on Swansea, but we need that result. It'd be great if we can get the performance and also the right result.

“A lot of the stuff we did against Sheffield United was really good in terms of taking the ball away from them, building out from the back. Where we have to improve, and where the focus this week has been, is on scoring goals.

“We got into some really good positions, got a lot of final third entries, but we weren’t clinical enough. We've worked extremely hard this week on doing that, so hopefully that helps the players going into the game.”

Not for the first time this season, Rooney will find himself up against one of his former Manchester United team-mates in the opposition dug-out. And the Argyle boss has been impressed by the work done by Michael Carrick, whose side currently sit sixth in the league table.

“They are a good team, pass the ball well, some really good individual players and can hurt you,” warned Rooney. “They have scored a lot of goals this season, but we know we are in for a tough game and we have to be at our best to win.

“Middlesbrough are a different team to Sheffield United. They have a different style of play, different way of pressing, different way of playing out from the back. It's a different challenge, but I think what we have to do is be consistent in what we're doing in our performance.

“The more we can do that, the better chance we give ourselves of winning. We're gradually getting players back into fitness, so that will certainly help us moving forward.”

Argyle do not have any fresh injury concerns to contend with, so Muhamed Tijani, Joe Edwards and Ibrahima Cissoko remain sidelined. Although Cissoko could well feature over the festive period with the game at Oxford United on December 29 a potential return date.