Jose Mourinho has insisted that he still has full trust in Wayne Rooney and believes the club captain remains a "big player" for Manchester United, despite being dropped for the home win over Leicester City.
Rooney was left on the bench for Saturday afternoon's emphatic 4-1 victory - arguably the Red Devils' best display under the Portuguese at a time when the pressure was beginning to build.
United scored four times in the space of 20 first-half minutes to justify Mourinho's decision to omit his under-performing skipper, with the ex-Chelsea manager claiming that it was a 'normal decision' to leave him out.
Pressed further after the match for his thinking behind the big call, Mourinho is quoted by BBC Sport as saying: "He's my man, I trust him completely. He's as happy as I am at this moment and that's the team.
"He's a big player for me, for United, a big player for this country. If I don't play [Marcus] Rashford you ask me why, if I don't play Jesse Lingard you ask me why and you prefer always to ask why somebody is not playing.
"Sometimes when I read you, I feel I know nothing about football. But there is one thing I know and that is the rules of the game and I can only start with 11. Until somebody tells me there is a change to that I can only start with 11."
Rooney, who was last dropped from United's starting lineup on Boxing Day last year, came on for the final seven minutes of the one-sided affair against Leicester.
Daniel Lewis
