WAYNE ROONEY has defended his ex-Manchester United Roy Keane by claiming his old captain’s notorious MUTV interview blast was right.

The fiery Irishman took aim at John O'Shea, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson, Darren Fletcher and Rio Ferdinand after a 4-1 thumping at Middlesbrough in November 2005 on the club’s official TV channel.

The clip – titled 'Roy Keane plays the pundit' – was never aired publicly after it was deemed too controversial, with the former midfielder giving a scathing assessment of Ferdinand in particular.

He said: "Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar.”

His comments effectively ended his career at Old Trafford with boss Sir Alex Ferguson furious, allowing Keane to leave for nothing later that month.

However, Rooney has now opened up on the incident and says he agreed with everything Keane said.

Writing in his column for The Sunday Times, the now Derby County star said: “I was at United when he gave his infamous MUTV interview but disagree with how it’s portrayed.

“Roy was supposedly too critical of his team-mates but I’ve watched the video and there’s nothing wrong with it at all.

“He said that players can’t pass the ball ten yards and they’re playing for Manchester United and it’s not good enough. Well, he’s right.”

Rooney, who only spent a season playing alongside Keane, also admitted it was the skipper rather than the manager that he was most keen to impress.

He continued: “Now Roy Keane was vocal. He had an aura. I remember my first United training session thinking, 'I need to impress him.' Not the manager. Him.”

Rooney would later wear the armband himself after taking over from Nemanja Vidic in 2014.

And he revealed he sought out the advice of two legends after his appointment before leading the charge on changes off-field.

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