Wayne Rooney has given his side of the story after a video appeared to show him letting a 'mystery woman' into his Devon flat.
Liverpool-born Rooney has rented an apartment hundreds of miles away from his Cheshire mansion since taking charge of struggling Championship side Plymouth Argyle earlier this year.
A video viewed millions of times online appears to show Rooney locking the door of his down-south dwelling, with the back of a strawberry blonde woman also in camera shot. The former Manchester United and England striker claims that the footage has been edited.
Related articles
"I am aware of a video circulating online," he posted on Instagram. "The video shows a man and a woman looking around my apartment. The couple kindly gave me a lift home and were in there at the same time as my son who was visiting.
"Footage is from last summer. It is annoying that at least one online newspaper has chosen to edit the footage to make it appear as though a woman entered the apartment on her own. That is simply not true."
Rooney has had a tough time at Plymouth, with only four wins from 23 league games leaving them stranded at the foot of the table. The Pilgrims are four points from safety and winless in their last nine games, having suffered heavy defeats against Norwich, Bristol City and Coventry on that run.
Plymouth face Bristol City again on New Year's Day, and Rooney is desperate to instigate a turnaround, with some fans calling for him to be axed after only seven months at the helm.
"I think the criticism is normal with the results we're going through," he told BBC Radio Devon. "You have to feel that you can turn it around. I understand [the fans' reaction], I've been there myself when I was young and I've been there as a fan when you want to see your team win.
Related articles
"When you're losing games as we're losing them, that frustration is there so I get it and I don't take it personally."
On his future, Rooney added: "That's a question for the board. I understand how football works so all I can do is keep trying to work as hard as I can. For all of us, we're trying to do the right things and help us win games - unfortunately that hasn't been the case over the last few weeks."
