Wayne Rooney tears into 'naive' Plymouth players again after conceding last-minute equaliser in 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough to keep Pilgrims bottom of Championship

Rooney's Plymouth Argyle took the lead three times at Home Park against Middlesborough as Lewis Gibson, Darko Gyabi and Mustapha Bundu scored goals for the Pilgrims. However, Michael Carrick's side hauled themselves level on all three occasions with efforts from Jonny Howson, Hayden Hackney and Emmanuel Latte Lath, the last of whom scored in injury time. Rooney has now ripped into his players' inability to hold the lead on multiple occasions.

Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, Rooney said: "It's frustrating. Reflecting on the game I thought first half we were excellent, both in possession and out of possession.

"I'm a little bit disappointed we didn't do better for two of the three goals, I think we were a bit naive."

Plymouth Argyle are stuck to the bottom of the Championship standings this season and Rooney's future at Home Park is in question. Reacting to the battle to avoid Championship relegation, Rooney added: "It's very tight down there and there's quite a few teams in what is a mini-league.

"We're bottom of the league but if we keep performing like we have been doing over the last three games I'm certain we will win games soon.

"I've no problem with that because it's a strange league but it's not where we want to be. My focus is going to be on making sure we're not in that bottom three come he end of he season and we know one game can change that."

The Pilgrims will be in action next when they take on Coventry City in the Championship on Thursday, December 26. The Sky Blues are managed by another of Rooney's former England team-mates in Frank Lampard.