Red card frustration drives Mvoto forward

NO LOOKING BACK: Jean-Yves Mvoto wants Athletic to focus.

YOU could have cooked a steak and kidney pudding on the steam coming out of Paul Dickov's ears at Colchester.

Sent up to the stand from the dug-out by referee Steve Rushton after having a few select words with the official at half-time, the Scot's temper had barely improved by the time the post-match press conference came around.

Through the manager's eyes, the decision to award the U's a penalty in first-half injury time, on the advice of an assistant, was plain wrong. And it will have emphasised how powerless Dickov and his ilk can be to influence matches when the interpretation of officials on the day play such a big role.

Jean-Yves Mvoto was left feeling similarly helpless at the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

Having seen Nathan Clarke enjoy a storming debut against Rochdale, Dickov could hardly have recalled his talismanic French centre-back for the Colchester test after his suspension had finished.

Mvoto was absent for the derby after harshly being sent off for two yellow cards at Scunthorpe — another match in which the dance between referee David Coote, who awarded a handball and a first booking against the Athletic defender, and his assistant, who flagged for a foul the other way, came under scrutiny.

Admitting it was painful to watch his team-mates' defeat from the no-man's land of the substitutes' bench, Mvoto is now fully focused on again flipping the team's fortunes around quickly against cross-Pennine rivals Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

"I am the kind of guy who feels bad when it is my fault," recalled Mvoto, who is in line for a recall as a result of on-loan Clarke's ineligibility.

"On the first yellow card, the linesman saw the foul for me and the referee gave it the other way, saying that it was handball.

"Then at the end of the game and with Scunthorpe pressing, I maybe got a bit too over-excited. It was down to wanting to do something to help the team, to stop the opposition from scoring.

"It meant I was suspended for the Rochdale game and then on the bench for Colchester.

"And it is always difficult to sit and watch your team getting beaten like this.

"I don't think you can say that if I was on the field it would have made a difference. It was a bad day for us.

"Now it is about how we approach the Huddersfield game. We have to prepare well and put it right.

"We know it is a tough game for us but at the same time it is another normal game, nothing more.

"After the defeat at Colchester everyone's heads went down, which you can understand. The important thing for us now is to get back to basics.

"Huddersfield are one of the favourites for this league for a reason, but we showed what we are capable of against Scunthorpe and Rochdale. Now we have to put in a similar performance."

Former Sunderland man Mvoto, who turns 23 next week, was rumoured to be a Huddersfield target last term and will be out to inflict some rare damage on the Terriers.

Lee Clark's big-spending club are unbeaten in 30 league games — excluding play-offs — and appear well-set to live up to pre-season expectations of a charge towards automatic promotion.