Fulham captain Danny Murphy has jumped to the defence of Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney.

England hitman Rooney has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week.

He was booked for diving in last Saturday's home defeat by Aston Villa and branded a hypocrite after previously insisting he would never try to con the referee.

But Murphy said: "I don't think that makes him a hypocrite.

"There are situations in the game when players anticipate the tackle coming and there is a difference between that and outright diving.

"Wayne isn't a player who would actively look to go down under a challenge. After the incident, he was straight back on his feet and didn't even appeal for the penalty.

"There's a lot of hype around diving and every incident is likely to be scrutinised in great detail."