September 10 2003

Tommy Black

Tommy Black has admitted he deserved his second successive sending off and now faces an anxious wait to see how many matches he will miss through suspension.

Black was shown the red card after 72 minutes of Saturday's 4-3 friendly defeat for pushing Brescia's Antonio Filippini after the Italian threw a ball in his face and spat at him.

Black told the Croydon Guardian: "I probably deserved what I got, because I retaliated. But I think most players would have reacted when someone's run 20 yards to throw a ball in your face."

The match referee will include the incident in his report to UEFA, and following his red card for two bookable offences at Millwall last week, Black now faces the possibility of a four match ban, as well a club fine.

He said: "I don’t need to get involved and I will now have to pay the price. The red card at Millwall was very harsh but I was one of the experienced players out there on Saturday and I have let myself and my team-mates down.

"I didn’t realise there would be a ban involved, but I spoke to Steve Kember and I have to accept the fine, because there’s no exception to the rules."

Black is suspended for Saturday’s clash at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, and the length of any further ban will depend on whether Black’s red card was reported to UEFA as violent conduct or foul play.

Black added: "I am hoping it will be a further one match, but it may be three or four. It is frustrating because I have been playing well and now I may miss out."

Kember said: "I have had a discussion with Tommy and he will be fined. That doesn’t mean I don’t think he was provoked by players spitting at him and throwing the ball in his face. He has got to learn."