Chris Smalling admitted that he played through the pain of a broken toe. Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Manchester United defender Chris Smalling has said that he pushes himself to the limit "all the time" and explained that he needed his recent two-month break from action after he played against Chelsea on Oct. 23 with a broken toe.

United manager Jose Mourinho had questioned some players' desire for pushing themselves through the pain barrier after the club won 3-1 away against Swansea City on Nov. 6. That was a game in which Smalling and teammate Luke Shaw had not made themselves available due to injury.

Smalling confirmed that he had broken a toe in the 4-1 home win against Fenerbahce on Oct. 20, when he came off at half-time, then played the next game against Chelsea three days later, when United lost 4-0.

He was then absent from the side until Dec. 17, coming on as a late substitute in the 2-0 win away against West Bromwich Albion, and completed 90 minutes for the first time since his comeback when United beat Reading 4-0 on Saturday.

"I had the knock and then I had a long couple of months but then I got it right and now it's fine. It's a case of getting back into a rhythm and showing consistent performances," he said. "It was during the Fenerbahce game, when I came off at half-time. I did it then and obviously you try to carry on in games after and then you just have to sort of give in and it needed the rest and now I am back and I have no problems."

Regarding Mourinho's comments about playing through the pain barrier, the defender said: "I think it's nice when the manager wants you out there to play and I think me -- and with most players -- I try to push myself to the limit all the time. In the end, it was that it just needed the rest it needed. Now it's all good, so I am happy."

His absence meant that Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones stepped in as makeshift centre-backs, showing that there is competition for places when all United's centre-back options are available.

When it was pointed out to him that Jones and Rojo have done well, he replied: "Yeah, they have."

When asked if he was pleased for Jones, Smalling said: "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Discussing Jones's return and the prospect of playing alongside him, Smalling added: "From the last couple of years, I have been able to stay injury free and he has had more hard luck, but now he has had that and I have been happy for him, because it's great to see him out there. I always knew what he could do and it's just a case of staying fit and showing everyone.

"It's true, we haven't [played together much]. We have trained a lot but, in matches, we haven't played too much. We have been together for a long time now to know each other's game.

"I know him most out of all the centre-backs here, but I think when you get into a good rhythm with training games, like Daley [Blind] last year, I think it's easy to get into a good rhythm when you are playing alongside good players."

Speaking about Wayne Rooney equalling Sir Bobby Charlton's all-time scoring record for United, Smalling said: "I am so happy because it has been on the cards, even sort of at the start of the season everyone knew it was coming. It was just a case of when and it's nice that he is getting a bit closer [to becoming top scorer outright] and hopefully he will get that record sooner rather than later."

Asked if Rooney is under-appreciated, he said: "Yeah, I think he is. Even with the best players, say the [Cristiano] Ronaldos, they can go four games without a goal and then the criticism is there but I think great players like Rooney and Ronaldo, etc. are really only appreciated when they are gone and they have broken all these records. Whether it's for United or England, and he is going to be a big miss."

Mourinho has said that Marcus Rashford could one day overtake Rooney's all-time record at United and Smalling said: "I think it's good to put the pressure on him because he can handle it. He has shown that. I think he has gone from one level to the next level and you saw his performance [against Reading]."

Asked about the possibility of United winning the Quadruple -- Premier League, Europa League, FA Cup and EFL Cup -- Smalling said: "I think we are taking it game by game.

"I think the more games, the better. I am always one that I would rather play than train. We are looking forward to it and obviously, the last eight or nine weeks, we have been getting that consistency. We can't get ahead of ourselves but, if we keep up the form like this, then who knows."