Former Manchester United star, and now Sunderland boss, Steve Bruce believes Sir Alex Ferguson is acting in Wayne Rooney's best interests by taking him out of the firing line. Sunderland boss Bruce, who captained United under Ferguson, said: "He's (Ferguson) the right person to handle it.
"I find it amazing that we're questioning it and I'm convinced he's done it in a way to protect the lad.
"I don't think Wayne will probably understand that at the moment because he's young but when you look back on it in later times I'm convinced Sir Alex is doing what he's done many, many times.
"He's trying to protect his big player, trying to keep him out of the spotlight, keep him under the radar, if you like. More importantly, trying to protect him in his way."
Bruce, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme, added: "We all know Wayne Rooney is a fantastic footballer and it's the first time in his career that he's had this, a little sort of blip, but make no mistake, he'll be back.
"He's our best talent in this country and it's about time we tried to protect him and look after him."
