Sunderland star Jermain Defoe has expressed his disappointment in the manner at which Wayne Rooney has been treated recently.

Rooney is clearly not the player he once used to be and as a testament to this fact, the striker has recently been dropped by both Manchester United and the England national team.

Many now believe that Rooney is already at an age where he should be winding down his career but Black Cats veteran Defoe most certainly does not agree with such a notion and has stated that the 30-year-old is still capable of producing the goods at the highest level.

Defoe said: "Is age an irrelevance? Yes, 100 per cent.

"Ryan Giggs showed that, Teddy Sheringham played until he was 40, Les Ferdinand was 38.

"I just think if you do it right, look after yourself like I've always done, then you shouldn't have a problem. I know Wayne, not just as a footballer but as a person too and he's such a nice lad.

"He did that press conference earlier this week and you've got to give him credit because a lot of players would not have done that.

"Wayne is 30 and what he's achieved in the game is unbelievable. People forget what he's done and how much football he's played.

"Obviously there comes a time in a player's career when you can't reach the same level that you've been at before, especially when you've set such high standards.

"At one stage, he was the wonder boy and now people are getting so frustrated the phones are burning. But he's one of the best talents England has ever produced so the criticism is harsh."