Chris Lakey Darel Russell found an unlikely ally after his red card on Saturday - Leicester manager Ian Holloway.

Chris Lakey

Darel Russell found an unlikely ally after his red card on Saturday - Leicester manager Ian Holloway.

It was Holloway who was accused of trying to get Russell red-carded when the teams met at Carrow Road a month ago - an incident which led to a touchline spat between the Foxes boss and his Norwich counterpart Glenn Roeder.

But while Russell did get his marching orders on Saturday, there were no arguments on the touchline - just a handshake between the managers at the final whistle before both broke away from the norm in their press conferences.

Roeder had no complaints.

“No - and he (Russell) has seen it himself and he realised how late it was and how far away from the ball he was, so the referee had little choice,” he said. “I had no complaints with what the referee decided to do.”

Holloway had no complaints either, despite seeing his defender, Richard Stearman, carried off on a stretcher as a result of the Russell challenge - but his view of the incident prompted the type of summary for which the Leicester boss is famed.

“He's (Stearman's) walking very gingerly - he's not on crutches but I'm sure it wasn't as bad as it first looked,” he said.

“It was a very committed challenge which I used to do a few myself. I think it's a man's game, but without seeing it again I don't really want to comment on it.

“I have always been a Darel Russell admirer and nothing's changed from that. I think he is a wonderfully committed footballer. Modern day football, all these poncy people running about looking all smart in their kit with lovely little red and blue shiny boots on, I'm not sure that's what it's all about to me.

“It was a bit muck and nettles when I played and I think they're losing that a bit in today's game. I like an old fashioned tackle, that was quite entertaining at times. All this skippadee doo and passing at times, I ain't so sure I like that. I'd rather let the game go on a bit. It's a man's game - you won't find me complaining.”

Holloway was revelling in victory after a run of three straight defeats.

“I think the players made a statement,” he said. “They looked a little bit wobbly at the start on a difficult surface, but once the first goal went in we looked confident. If we could give these lads a goal start every week I think we would have a very good team on our hands.

“This division is so tight. If we can win our next two games then it is perfectly feasible that we could go above Norwich. You'd have thought we were 20 points behind them if you listened to the way people were talking in the build up to the game. Absolute poppycock.”