"I didn't mind that. You get on with it. But he then had a hand on my face and, as we went down, he just seemed to be holding on to me and it was a natural reaction to try to get him off me.
"That's all there was in it.
"I tried to get him off me and the referee says I kicked out and gave me a straight red.
"Being honest I thought the referee was poor all through the game.
"I apologised to the players and the manager as I know I would not like to have had to play 80 minutes with 10 men.
"If we'd lost I would have felt I had let them down. But they were brilliant and, with the chances we had in the second half, we might have won it.