Swindon Town manager David Flitcroft apologised to James Dunne after the midfielder's red card

David Flitcroft has said he was disappointed in himself for singling out James Dunne for criticism when he was sent off against Coventry last Tuesday.

Dunne was shown a straight red card for pushing Coventry midfielder Michael Doyle with the scors level at 1-1 when Swindon took on the Sky Blues last week.

Coventry went on to win 2-1 with the extra man. 

Swindon appealed Dunne's three-match ban and won it, so the midfielder was eligible to play his former club Cambridge on Saturday and he helped Town to a 2-0 win.

Speaking after the Cambridge match, Flitcroft revealed he had regrets about how he spoke to Dunne post-Coventry.

"We worked really hard behind the scenes (to get the ban overturned), our analysts and the staff at the club worked really hard.

"To be honest, I apologised to James because I was emotional and I told him he let the club down and let everyone down so I'm disappointed with myself after the game.

"I reflected on it in the morning, we looked at it and there was an injustice.

"He got done for violent conduct, so what we went to the FA and said that it clearly wasn't violent conduct, he was pushing someone away, just generally pushing someone away.

"What amazed me was the ref (Charles Breakspear) was only three yards away and he didn't see any conduct by 30 yards away, from a completely different angle, the linesman's got it.

"We showed in the report that the linesman's given the call, not the referee. I feel great, they have listened, we went to the appeal and it got rectified and you know there is justice out there sometimes.

"I'd never waste energy and time on a frivolous (appeal) that can turn into five games from three, it was never frivolous, it was a case of there was no violent conduct there.

"We got it rescinded and that's fantastic because it would've cost James in his pocket.

"Again, it probably shows the need for technology because if they get that right, it was so obvious, we don't lose James in the game.

"People don't want 10 vs 11, they don't, they say they do but they don't. You see a Premiership game now, a team gets sent off early doors, it becomes 5, 6-0 and you switch it off, you want a competitive 11 vs 11.

"We've got the player back which is good but it doesn't get you the Coventry result back."