Chris Smalling has vowed to prove Louis van Gaal and Wayne Rooney right after the Manchester United manager described him as a future club captain.

And current skipper Rooney called the 25-year-old one of the top three centre-backs in the world.

After several seasons when he was in and out of the United team, Smalling, a 2010 signing from Fulham, has established himself as Van Gaal's first-choice centre-back and was rewarded with a new long-term contract earlier this year.

He has also worn the United armband when Rooney and his deputy Michael Carrick have not been on the pitch and manager Van Gaal feels he could be granted it on a permanent basis.

"Yeah, I did read that," Smalling said. "When you hear such good praise, especially from Wazza [Rooney] and the manager, you just want to show them that it's not just words that are meaningless.

"He is a very experienced manager. He says a lot of things that I try to take on board and I think he wants you to express yourself and when he shows a trust in you I just want to repay it and do as well as I can. But, yeah, he has given me massive credit.

"I do think it is clicking. I knew when I did get a consistent run and I could build on something that I could go from height to height and at the moment I am getting confident and I am just looking forward to the next game, to putting down a marker and keep building.

"When I first joined, in that first year I had a good run and my form was good but then obviously being shifted around different positions, and having the injuries didn't help, but in the last year of 18 months I have felt like that position is mine and hopefully I can make sure that the manager keeps picking me."

For Smalling's first four seasons at Old Trafford, the established pair of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic were often the first-choice centre-backs and he feels their departures, to QPR and Inter Milan respectively, afforded him opportunity.

"I think with two of the older players going in 'Vida' and Rio there was a case where you need someone to step up and I saw that as my opportunity to step up and touch wood it will keep going," he said.