Rio asks press to lay off Rooney

Rio Ferdinand accepts Manchester United team-mate Wayne Rooney has made mistakes – but he does not understand why the striker is rivalling events in Libya and Ivory Coast for front page billing.

Rooney will this morning discover the extent of his punishment for the four-letter outburst at West Ham on Saturday that threatens a to rule him out of the FA Cup semi-final with Manchester City at Wembley on April 16.