Roo puts faith in captain Lawrence
WAYNE ROONEY says he has made Tom Lawrence his new Derby captain as he reminds him of himself.
Manchester United and England legend Rooney has controversially handed the armband to a player who came within a whisker of being jailed less than two years ago for drink driving.
Lawrence, 27, and then team-mate Mason Bennett were splashed all over the front pages after a team bonding session went horribly wrong.
Both pleaded guilty to drink driving and failing to stop at the scene of an accident in which the then Rams skipper Richard Keogh picked up a serious knee injury.
Keogh was a backseat passenger in Lawrence’s Range Rover which crashed into Bennett’s car.
Bennett and Lawrence fled the scene and were slammed by District
by DAVE ARMITAGE Judge Jonathan Taffe, who banned them from driving for two years and ordered both players to do 180 hours of unpaid work.
Sentencing them, Judge Taffe said: “You have brought shame upon yourselves, your family, your profession and your club.”
The fallout didn’t stop there – Keogh was sacked by the club but appealed against his dismissal and was recently awarded £2.3m in compensation.
Rooney, however, is prepared to forgive and forget, presumably with the backing of club owner Mel Morris.
Rooney said: “I’m sure he’ll be a very good captain.
“There’s stuff that’s happened in the past, but that’s happened with a lot of players.
“I became Man United captain and England captain after I had personal issues. I see some similarities.”