You lucky lad!

Photo: Picture by Max Flego.

FLASHPOINT . . . Antony Kay, who was sent off, grabs Latics striker Robbie Simpson by the face.

Simpson ‘should have seen red card’
MK DONS manager Karl Robinson felt Athletic striker Robbie Simpson should have been sent off before the incident which ended with home centre-back Antony Kay seeing red for violent conduct in Saturday’s League One fixture at stadium:mk.

Robinson, who with Athletic counterpart Paul Dickov entered the field at the end of the Dons’ 2-0 win to try to calm the situation, said Kay’s former Huddersfield team-mate Simpson – who was NOT sent off – was deserving of dismissal earlier in the game.

“Simpson should have been sent off three or four minutes before, or half an hour before, or an hour before,” Robinson said.

“He has punched out at Darren Potter during the game and went through the back of Luke Chadwick in the first half. Antony Kay jumped up, and Simpson has cracked him on the nose – his nose is a mess and there’s blood all over the place.

“He ran back into position and Antony grabbed him by the throat. I cannot condone that, but there was a five-second period when the referee (Ian Williamson) should have given a free-kick and he didn’t.”

Simpson, booked for what looked like a retaliatory foul on Chadwick during the game, beat a hasty retreat down the tunnel after the fracas had ended.

There is no indication the Athletic striker will face retrospective punishment.

“It could have been handled a lot earlier than it was,” said the Latics manager. “There was a build-up of frustration from both sets of players from what had happened. The last thing Robbie wants to do is fight with his mate on the football pitch. The players went in and split it up and Robbie went off down the tunnel.”

Simpson later tweeted: "Me and (Kay) are good friends... he thought I intentionally swung an elbow which I didn't, he knows that now and we are cool."






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