SOCCER: David Eaton knew that Wayne Rooney would be a Premiership star from the moment he first saw him.

The Macclesfield striker first noticed the 17-year-old Everton wonderkid when the two were coming through the ranks at Goodison Park.

"I'm not at all surprised that Wayne Rooney's done so well," Eaton said.

"The first time I saw him, he was 14, and I knew even then that he would play in the Premiership. He's strong, he's got pace and he'll shoot from anywhere.

"And I've noticed that his vision and awareness on the pitch are really coming on now as well.

"It's not so much a case of 'what's his strength' as 'what's his weakness'!

"If he looks after himself, he could be the best striker in the league."

While Rooney's progress has made national headlines, his former Everton reserve team-mate Eaton has had plenty to smile about over the last few weeks too.

The 21-year-old has slowly rebuilt a career that seemed to be stalling until he came to Macclesfield in September.

He completed that recovery over Christmas by signing a contract at the Moss Rose until the end of this season.

Eaton came very close to giving up football altogether to go to university after being released by Everton last summer.

He suddenly found himself in an enormous pool of players scrambling for jobs as clubs cut their squads in the wake of ITV Digital's collapse.

An unsuccessful summer trial at Wrexham was Eaton's low point.

"I was at Wrexham for their pre-season build up, but nothing came of it.

"I think in my mind, I had given up after that. I'd had enough.

"The feeling of rejection wasn't nice, and I felt that I hadn't been given a fair crack of the whip."

It would have been a sad end to a career that had already seen Eaton win a national trophy.

He helped Blue Coat School, in Liverpool's Wavertree district, win the National Schools under-16s Championships at Molineux, and even got to play at Serie A side Bologna's ground.

Soon afterwards, he got a trial at Everton - the start of four years at Goodison Park.

But when it ended, Eaton started to consider his future in the game.

He said: "I had started to look for university courses and jobs - but then I got a phone call out of the blue from David Moss."

Eaton benefited from one of those twists of fate that can make or break football careers.

Moss was looking to bolster his attack after releasing Lee Glover, and felt that Eaton was worth a look - initially on a non-contract basis.

As Macclesfield's injury problems began to bite, Eaton found himself on the first-team bench for the trip to Kidderminster in October.

He then came on as a substitute and scored with his first touch in league football.

"It was pretty unbelievable," Eaton said.

"Kyle Lightbourne put in a terrific cross, and it would have been harder to miss."

When the new boy scored in his next game too - against Carlisle - Moss realised he had to sign him up pretty quickly.

That initial three-month deal has now been extended.

In a classic case of a story coming full circle, Eaton returned to Wrexham on New Year's Day and scored - for Macclesfield in a 3-1 win.

He said: "I didn't feel I had to prove anything to Wrexham - and I wasn't trying to.

"But even though it wasn't a great goal, it was nice to score after what happened."

Eaton's main priority now is to push for a regular starting place. Moss has preferred to bring him on as a substitute as the striker builds up his fitness.

"The fitness is coming along well, but the best thing I can do is play matches," Eaton said.

"I just want to keep pushing and pushing for a place in the starting line-up."

Macclesfield's fans will hope that he can do it. For judging by the anticipation at the Moss Rose every time he warms up to come on as a substitute, David Eaton has become something of a star himself.