Wayne Rooney pets tiger during break in Dubai with knee brace... but Manchester United star is pictured walking unaided back in England as he steps up injury recovery
- Manchester United's Wayne Rooney went to Dubai for a short break
- Rooney injured knee ligaments in the 2-1 defeat by Sunderland last month
- The 30-year-old had been in a protective knee brace as a result since
- However, United's No 10 was seen walking without it back in England
- For more of the latest on Wayne Rooney visit www.dailymail.co.uk/rooney
Wayne Rooney's warm-weather break to Dubai was a chance for recuperation but the Manchester United captain still found time to keep himself busy.
The 30-year-old was in the Middle East last week as part of his recovery from damaged knee ligaments suffered in the Red Devils' defeat at Sunderland last month.
And Rooney put his injured right knee to the test on holiday as he petted a tiger during a visit to a private farm.
Wayne Rooney petted a tiger and fed a giraffe during his warm-weather break to Dubai last week
The England international was also snapped feeding a giraffe during his visit there too.
Rooney, who went away with wife Coleen in Dubai, wore a protective brace for his right knee but that wasn't the case on Sunday.
United's No 10 was spotted out walking with his wife in England without his knee brace - in a boost to all those connected with the Old Trafford outfit.
Red Devils manager Louis van Gaal recently raised the possibility of Rooney returning to action sooner than expected and that could be the case as he walked without his knee brace.
Rooney was seen walking in England on Sunday without his protective knee brace for the first time
The Manchester United captain damaged right knee ligaments in their defeat at Sunderland last month
Rooney's absence had seen United win four of their five matches without him prior to Sunday's defeat at West Brom.
The result ended United's four-match winning run and is not the ideal preparation for a week that sees a Europa League trip to Liverpool followed by an FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham.
'I think always this match has an influence on the next match so it is, for us, very bad,' Van Gaal said post-match.
'It is a bad moment and it wasn't in my opinion a necessary loss.
'I don't want to say that we deserved to win, no, but we don't deserve to lose.
'When you see at the end the chances that West Bromwich Albion has created in comparison with us, it was an unnecessary loss.
'When it is a draw and you play 60 minutes with 10 men, you can accept it - but now you lose and you lose contact with the first four or five.'
United end the weekend sixth in the Premier League, three points behind fourth-placed Manchester City.
Louis van Gaal cuts a crestfallen figure as his Manchester United side slumped to defeat at West Brom
Sunday's loss at The Hawthorns leaves United three points Manchester City - who have a game in hand
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