Former Manchester United manager David Moyes has backed Wayne Rooney to come through his current spell of bad form.

The United and England captain has been criticised for his performances this season, with Louis van Gaal deploying him in a number of different positions in an attempt to get the best out of him.

Moyes believes that the 30-year-old will eventually end up as a midfielder, but argued that his goals are too important to the team for that switch to occur yet.

"He is having a tough time, but I think he will come through it," Moyes told BT Sport.

"I have always said he will be a midfield player and he will come again, but at the moment he is such a good goalscorer, you don't want to give it up just yet."

Moyes handed Rooney his professional debut in 2002 when the duo were together at Everton.