Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney has admitted that he deserved to be sent off in his team's Premier League match against West Ham United.
The Red Devils claimed a 2-1 win at Old Trafford, despite playing with 10 men for most of the second half following Rooney's kick out at Stewart Downing.
Rooney has since acknowledged that he was rightly given his marching orders and has revealed that he has apologised to his teammates for the incident.
"It was probably the right decision," Rooney told the club's official website. "I saw the West Ham player making a counter-attack and I tried to break up the play, but I just misjudged it.
"I didn't absolutely volley the lad. I tried to trip him up and, to be fair to him, he got further away from me and that's why my leg is straighter than it should have been. As he pushed the ball away, my leg straightened out and that is obviously why the referee deemed it as a red card.
"Of course I did [apologise]. I think everyone knew [I was in the wrong]. It's always tough against 11 men when you are a man down, especially when they are throwing a lot of balls into the box as West Ham were doing, so I am grateful that we held out."
Rooney has been sent off six times in his career, with his last red card for United coming in March 2009.
Alex Meyers
