Ferguson hoping Rooney will mature with age

Alex Ferguson is hoping Wayne Rooney can ditch the demons which saw him dismissed for the first time in his Manchester United career in Villarreal last night.

The rage which rumbled to the surface on England duty in Belfast last week, erupted in uncontrollable fashion just after the hour mark when referee Kim Milton Nielsen harshly booked the teenager for a foul on Quique Alvarez.

Rooney’s response was to sarcastically applaud Nielsen – the man who also sent off David Beckham during the 1998 World Cup – right under the Dane’s nose.

“Wayne is a young man,” said the United boss. “He is 19 years of age and you hope with maturity those things will evaporate.

“Wayne reacts to injustice. He felt he had been wrongly booked but you cannot applaud the referee. He had no chance whatsoever with that referee.”