Barton questions red card

Joey Barton is sent off following his confrontations with Carlos Tevez & Sergio Aguero

QPR midfielder Joey Barton has apologised for his sending off against Manchester City, but feels he did not deserve to be red carded.

Barton was sent off against his former club early in the second half for an apparent elbow on Carlos Tevez and then as he walked off the pitch he kicked out at Sergio Aguero to spark a mass confrontation between both sets of players.

Barton took to Twitter to apologise to QPR's players and fans, but claims he kicked out at Aguero in a bid to get a Manchester City player sent off by retaliating.

"The head was never gone at any stage, once I'd been sent off, one of our players suggested I should try to take 1 of theirs with me"
Joey Barton Quotes of the week

"Can do nothing but apologise to the players and the fans. Still don't think its a sending off. Tried to take 1 of their players with me....," Barton wrote on Twitter.

"The head was never gone at any stage, once I'd been sent off, one of our players suggested I should try to take 1 of theirs with me..."

Shift focus

QPR boss Mark Hughes tried to shift the focus away from Barton by claiming he never saw the incident and that he is yet to talk to the player about the sending off which left his side to defend for 35 minutes with just 10 men.

"I have not actually seen it," said Hughes. "Some of you guys said he deserved a sending off and obviously after that there was a melee which was unfortunate as well.

"We will look at it obviously over the summer. It was a very difficult situation for us, I was pleased the guys could use that situation to good effect and it just made us more resolute and determined to get something out of the game.

"I have not had the opportunity to speak to Joey yet, but let's try not to focus on that because it was the one negative on a fantastic day for everybody connected with QPR."