Wayne Rooney reveals TV dating show inspired Man Utd legend’s first win as Plymouth boss after opening day thumping

WAYNE ROONEY has revealed he got over his devastating Plymouth debut defeat by watching popular TV show First Dates.

The England and Manchester United legend saw his new Argyle side thrashed 4-0 by Sheffield Wednesday in their first match of the new Championship season.

Wayne Rooney watched an episode of First Dates to inspire his first win as Plymouth Argyle bossRex

Channel 4 / Paul Groom

The reality dating show took away the pain of the 4-0 opening day defeat to Sheffield Wednesday[/caption]

Plymouth’s dismal performance saw them record just five shots to Wednesday’s 31.

And Wazza felt the heat from fans just a month after taking charge following last season’s stint at Birmingham.

However, Argyle bounced back with a much-needed 3-0 win over Cheltenham in yesterday’s Carabao Cup second round tie.

The south coast side dominated the game from start to finish.

And Rooney admits he went for a hard reset ahead of kick-off by watching First Dates.

The reality show sees strangers meet in a restaurant for dinner in an attempt to hit things off.

And it proved to be the perfect antidote to the Wednesday defeat, with Rooney clearing his mind before plotting Plymouth’s Carabao victory. 

He explained: “There’s always pressure, that’s part of the game.

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“After the game on Sunday I turned my phone off and watched an episode of First Dates.

“It’s important you switch off, you can get away from it, and then I revisited it Monday morning and watched the game back.

“You can have a bad game, it happens. It’s important they are able to switch off because sometimes you can think about it too much and it affects you mentally.

“I understand it, there’s a lot more scrutiny on me, that’s fine, I can deal with it.

“I know what we’re doing and what we’re trying to achieve at the club.

“It was a surprise on Sunday but I don’t think it was a time to panic and we’ve had time to get the team in, discuss it and put that game to bed.

“There was some harsh words said to the players on that performance.

“I wanted and expected a reaction (against Cheltenham) and I got that.”