McClaren baffled by Rooney ban

Steve McClaren has hit out at the disciplinary chiefs who upheld Wayne Rooney's three-match ban.

The England boss admits he was stunned to hear Rooney's appeal against a red card in a pre-season friendly had been rejected. The Manchester United striker will now miss nearly a month of football and McClaren fears his efforts to forge a close working bond with top clubs and managers like Sir Alex Ferguson have been rocked.

McClaren said: "The decision has not made my job any easier in building relationships with the clubs. I am not criticising anybody about making a decision but when I have to build a relationship with the clubs and the managers and decisions are made like this one with Wayne Rooney then that obviously makes my job very, very difficult."

The suspension will force Rooney out of three United games on top of the two England games he must miss after his red card in the World Cup quarter-final.

Rooney is available for United's opener against Fulham on Sunday but will not play again until the Premiership clash with Arsenal on September 17.

He misses United's games against Charlton, Watford and Tottenham and England internationals against Andorra and Macedonia.

McClaren said: "This decision has been made by somebody within the FA who I don't know.

"It's not somebody close to me. It's certainly not Brian Barwick or a department near me.

"It has affected Manchester United, it has affected England and it has affected the player and I am disappointed for them."

Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Neil Mellor were sent off in the Amsterdam tournament two years ago but the referee did not send his report to the FA and their bans were not imposed.