"Tripped" - What Sheffield United and Blackpool bosses said about post-match melee which saw two players sent off

After Ollie Norwood rescued a point for the Blades – who had earlier been 2-0 up and then 3-2 down – deep into eight minutes of injury time, United’s Wes Foderingham and the visitors’ Shayne Lavery became embroiled in a bizarre clinch which ended with both on the floor.

Referee David Webb brandished red cards to both after restoring some sort of order, with Blackpool boss Michael Appleton insisting his man was playing peacekeeper rather than instigator in a post-match melee.

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"I don't quite understand the one at the end of the game,” Appleton, whose side had been reduced to nine men at full-time after Marvin Ekpiteta and Dominic Thompson saw red within the space of three minutes, insisted.

“All I saw was Shayne Lavery getting wrestled to the ground and we'll see if we can get a better outcome [by appealing]. He was trying to pull people away from the officials. Having seen a little bit of footage we'll try and put our case across."

United may also consider appealing Foderingham’s red card – which, as it stands, will keep him out of their next three games, including a crunch clash against promotion rivals Norwich City next weekend.

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"I didn't see it, I just saw them both on the floor,” Blades chief Paul Heckingbottom said.

“I spoke with their staff about it and it looks as if Lavery's come and grabbed Wes to keep him out of the way and as he's spun, they've both grappled each other and fallen over as if they've tripped each other up."They didn't seem to think anything had happened but if the ref's seen two lads on the floor, he's thinking they're fighting. I've not seen it. I'm just going off their staff but we'll have to have a look and a think about it.

"I've gone over to get our lads out of the way. You're not going to win anything after the game.

"There's a little bit of commotion going off and I think it's just escalated.”