Man U veteran Giggs asks Rooney to toughen up

LONDON - Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs has told ace striker Wayne Rooney to toughen up quickly.

The Sun quoted Giggs, as saying: “When I was younger - 17, 18 or 19 - everything was going brilliantly. Then you hit a bit of bad form and they want to know who you are going out with, about your family history. I’ve had it a few times. It’s not nice. You don’t like it at the time but you get thick skin and it helps you in the long run.”

Former Liverpool and England great Kevin Keegan laid into Rooney last weekend for his lacklustre performance in the 2-2 draw at Bolton and for trying to gain publicity by selling his wedding photographs.

Out-of-form Rooney is also fighting to save his marriage after revelations about romps with a prostitute.

“It doesn’t matter whether you sell your wedding photos or not. The pressure footballers are under both on and off the pitch has got bigger. If he didn’t sell his wedding photos, I think people would still be giving him stick,” Giggs said.iggs was a tabloid star of the 90s when he broke into the United team and had high-profile relationships with the likes of TV presenter Dani Behr. But the married father of two believes what he faced is nothing compared to what Rooney is now up against.

Officially Rooney is out with an ankle injury but manager Alex Ferguson admitted last week the player had been suffering from the attention he is receiving.

Giggs is backing Rooney to bounce back from not scoring in open play since last March and being continually hampered by an ankle problem. (ANI)