Phil Bardsley's wife hits back after Wayne Rooney "knockout" punch

PHIL BARDSLEY'S wife has come to the defence of her husband after a video emerged of the Stoke City defender appearing to "knock out" Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney.

13:27, Sun, Mar 15, 2015 | UPDATED: 15:28, Sun, Mar 15, 2015

Wayne Rooney GETTY

Wayne Rooney fell to the ground after the punch by Phil Bardsley

The minute-long clip shows the England captain sparring with his former United team-mate in the kitchen of his Cheshire mansion before a left-hand jab by Bardsley leaves Rooney motionless on the floor.

But Bardsley's wife Tanya has taken to Twitter to insist Rooney got back up after the punch and then laughed the incident off.

She tweeted: "Seen the sun, 2 mates havin a laugh video doesn't show Wayne jumping straight up and laughing with Phil."

Seen the sun, 2 mates havin a laugh video doesn't show Wayne jumping straight up and laughing with Phil #cleveredit
— Tanya Bardsley (@TanyaBardo7) March 15, 2015

A source told the Sun on Sunday, the pair had got "carried away".

"Wayne had everybody worried when he hit the floor like that," the source told the newspaper.

"He made such a thud when he went down and he was just on his back with his eyes closed, not moving.

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"People were scared he had really banged his head and done some lasting damage.

"Everyone realised it was a stupid thing to do, but they just got carried away."

The incident reportedly happened on February 22, the day after United lost 2-1 to Swansea in the Premier League.

Rooney then started for United just six days later, scoring twice as his side beat Sunderland 2-0 at Old Trafford.