Ryan Giggs admits he is “bamboozled” by Wayne Rooney’s suspension for swearing.

Giggs has seen it all in his two decades at Old Trafford – Eric Cantona’s kung-fu attack on a Crystal Palace fan, Roy Keane’s revenge tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland and Rio Ferdinand’s eight-month ban for missing a drugs test being three of the lowlights. Usually Giggs keeps his own counsel on these matters, but he shares the belief at Old Trafford that Rooney’s two-game ban for swearing at a TV camera is too severe. While not condoning the outburst, Giggs, 37, feels the FA have been heavy-handed, too keen to make an example of English football’s highest-profile player in their determination to clean up the game. “I’m not surprised by the furore surrounding it because of the profile Wayne has got,” said Giggs. “But a two-game ban? I’m surprised by that. It had just never been done before [a player being charged for swearing]. There was no precedent and that’s why we were bamboozled by it.”

The news that the FA had dismissed Rooney’s appeal to reduce his suspension took the edge off United’s Champions League quarter-final, first-leg victory over Chelsea. It means he will miss the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley next Saturday just as his form is coming to the boil. Rooney’s winner at Chelsea followed a hat-trick at West Ham and gave him 13 for the season – 10 in his last 12 games. Now he will miss the Premier League home clash with Fulham, return for the second leg against Chelsea, then drop out again for the FA Cup derby.

“Obviously it is a blow,” said Giggs. “You want your big players flying at this point of the season because it is big game after big game. You want your special players scoring and Wayne is in good goalscoring form. He is a special player.” Following the five-game touchline ban for manager Sir Alex Ferguson, Rooney’s suspension will create the kind of siege mentality at Old Trafford on which United thrive, according to their longest-serving player. Ferguson has proved a master at circling the wagons over the years in times of adversity and his teams have usually fired the last shots. “Maybe times of adversity do make us stronger,” said Giggs. “A lot more is made of it away from the club. We’re in the changing room, we just want to concentrate on football and that’s it.

“We have to get on with it. We can moan about it, but we have too many big games to dwell on it. “That’s where the experience of the staff and the older players and the manager, of course, comes in. “No matter what team you put out, you have to perform. It’s not just about 11 players. We have 24 players who are dying to play every game.” United are not exactly short of strikers. Dimitar Berbatov, after being left on the bench for seven of the past nine games, is itching to improve his 21-goal tally; Michael Owen is equally desperate for some game-time after another injury-disrupted season, and Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez has shown he is not fazed by big occasions.

“This is what having a good squad is all about,” said Giggs. “Berba has been outstanding for us all season, scoring lots of goals. Chica has been on fire and we have Michael Owen coming back as well” With their 1-0 advantage, United will be favourites to complete the job against Chelsea next Tuesday, but Giggs said it will be suicide to curb their normal attacking instincts. “We were really pleased with the result at Stamford Bridge,” he said. “We would have taken a clean sheet and an away goal before the game. Over the past three or four years, it was probably our worst performance there. We have played better and not got a result. We haven’t had the decisions in the past and maybe this time we got them. Luck was on our side.