"It was just banter" ... Rotherham United chairman Tony Stewart's answer to Derby County manager Wayne Rooney's 'disrespect' claim

Rams boss Rooney pointed the finger after Rotherham's 3-0 Championship win, claiming Stewart and the group of people sitting with him the West Stand had overstepped the mark with their over-zealous support.

Rooney said: “The one thing that Rotherham didn't show was class or respect from above. I think the chairman was a bit disrespectful.

“We are quick enough to have a go at fans for using (bad) language or being offensive on the side but you don't expect it from the chairman. I wouldn't expect it from our owners or our board."

This morning, Stewart responded by denying there had been any swearing and saying Rooney had got the wrong man.

"I refute totally there was any bad language," he said. "I will not allow any bad language to come from any person who is sat in the boardroom seating area. I will not have it. I will not tolerate that."

A song that came from Stewart's group also angered Rooney whose team were back at New York 24 hours after the fixture had had to be postponed because of a waterlogged pitch.

Wayne Rooney at New York Stadium

"There was a song at the end that was just banter from one of the directors," Stewart said. "It wasn't me singing. It was friendly banter mentioning April because had we not played on Wednesday night then the game would not have taken place until April.

"I know the Derby people didn't want to wait until April. The friendly banter was along the lines of: 'April, April, you should have gone to April ...'

"It was only a song. There was no swearing. We were laughing."

Stewart added about Rooney's reaction: "There are some good losers and there are some bad losers and that goes in the latter category."