Wayne Rooney: Man Utd captain apologises to team for red card

Wayne Rooney has said he apologised to his team-mates after being sent off against West Ham on Saturday.

The Manchester United captain was dismissed for a rash challenge on Stewart Downing and says he has no plans to appeal the decision of referee Lee Mason.

"It was probably the right decision," he said. "Of course I did [apologise]."

Manchester United held on for a 2-1 win despite playing the last 30 minutes with 10 men.

Rooney's three-match ban means that he will be unavailable for Manchester United until the derby against Manchester City on 2 November.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce described Rooney's challenge as "crazy and irresponsible", while Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal agreed that the striker deserved to be dismissed.

"I saw the West Ham player making a counter-attack and I tried to break-up the play, but I just misjudged it," Rooney said.

"I am just grateful that the lads were able to hold on."

Meanwhile, West Ham striker Diafra Sakho will not face any retrospective punishment after the FA judged there was no case to answer in relation to an alleged off-the-ball incident with Manchester United defender Luke Shaw.