O'Driscoll: Dickinson challenge was reckless

13 November 2010 20:00
Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll felt Portsmouth defender Carl Dickinson deserved to be sent off for a "reckless" challenge on James Hayter. Rovers raced into a 2-0 lead inside the opening half hour thanks to goals from Hayter and James Coppinger before Joel Ward and David Nugent levelled it up for the home side with 15 minutes remaining. David Healy struck the winner 10 minutes from time before Dickinson was dismissed for a lunging tackle. O'Driscoll said: "It was reckless, that's the problem. The boy's a strong tackler and he was committed. There are a lot of good things about his play. "Given the nature of the game and the way it was going, they were trying to get back into it because we had scored the third goal. But you can't be reckless on a football pitch anymore. "I've had the benefit of seeing it again on the DVD and I'm sure when Steve (Cotterill) sees it, he won't have much argument. We'd have been talking about a lad in hospital with a broken leg if he hadn't jumped out of the way."

Source: PA