Burnley striker Sam Vokes is adamant that his elbow, which left Huddersfield defender Christopher Schindler bloodied and dazed, was completely accidental.
The incident happened in the latter stages of the first half in Burnley’s 1-1 draw with Huddersfield. Vokes and Schindler both went up for an aerial challenge, and the Burnley forward seemingly accidentally elbowed Schindler in the face.
The Huddersfield defender heroically got up and was smashed in the face by the ball, preventing it from flying towards the net before eventually going down for treatment. He suffered a cut above his right eye and the bridge of his nose, but still managed to finish the game.
Welshman Vokes had his say on the incident, as quoted by BT Sport: “I was backing in and he happened to be there and I caught him with a stray elbow. I apologised to him afterwards, it was nothing intentional. It was just one of those things where you’re up against the centre-half. I’ve had plenty of them from the other side.
“Obviously when you have an opponent lying down for that amount of time, no one wants to see that. I was glad to see him return back to the pitch."
“I don’t want to say that he did it on purpose,” said the Huddersfield defender, who had scored his first Premier League goal earlier in the half. "They’re a physical team, strong guys and they try to free them up, use their arms. Obviously my nose was in the way this time.”
Schindler was sure he had steered clear of major damage, saying: “It’s a little bit sore. I’ve got a headache but the rest is ok.
“It was quite a strong hit. I saw the ball was still in a dangerous area so I got my head on the second ball as well. I felt straight away it was dripping and I felt sure it was blood so that’s why I went to ground. My nose wasn’t the prettiest before so maybe it’s good for me!”
Source: 90min
