Paddy Davitt King's Lynn's bad boy striker Anthony Robinson insists his latest red card shame must act a watershed moment in salvaging his Linnets' career.Robinson was sent off for the third time since his arriving at The Walks in the summer during the club's weekend FA Trophy win at Whitby.

Paddy Davitt

King's Lynn's bad boy striker Anthony Robinson insists his latest red card shame must act a watershed moment in salvaging his Linnets' career.

Robinson was sent off for the third time since his arriving at The Walks in the summer during the club's weekend FA Trophy win at Whitby.

Lynn's top scorer now faces a lengthy FA ban after his latest dismissal for violent conduct but player/boss Carl Heggs is standing by the wayward striker.

Robinson is desperate to repay Heggs' faith and issued a public apology yesterday to Lynn supporters following his Whitby rush of blood.

“I let the gaffer down, myself down and those loyal fans who pay their money and travel all that way,” he said. “One lady said 'better luck Robbo, keep your head up' when I was walking off and that just killed me. I know some people on the forums say we don't care and don't applaud them at the end of the games, but I care too much.

“It has taken this sending off and the reaction of the gaffer to hit home. I'm doing antics you would expect a 19 year old lad to be doing. I'm not daft, I know other teams will be thinking we can wind him up and I have to deal with that. They wanted a penalty and were surrounding the referee so I went over to calm things down and this idiot kicked me slightly in the back. I put my arm up to shove him away but he has taken one look at the ref and gone down.”

Robinson candidly revealed he is leading the Linnets' attack while dealing with personal issues in his family life.

“I have a young son who has a condition called sickle cell which is drawing blood away to his spleen,” said Robinson. “It has stunted his growth and he needs an operation in the next few weeks. I'm not with his mother anymore either and I don't get to see him as often as I would like so it was just a very frustrating day for me before the game had even started.

“I know there are people in a worst predicament than me but I am his hero. He needs extra tuition with his learning because of the problems with his growth. If I score goals, I get a goal bonus which helps to pay for that tuition. When I don't, I get frustrated and angry within myself. I'm trying to channel that aggression but it still lets me down.”

The troubled Robinson openly admits he is also battling to get his life back on track after a spell in prison.

“I had a decent upbringing but I have lived the fast life in the past,” he said. “I've never been involved with drugs or anything like that but if someone had 20 televisions they might want to move on then I knew people.

“I was out of football for a year and a half and since I've come back into the game I've just tried to make up for lost time. I'm not big or hard. I've sat down with people who have 14, 25 years left to serve and they've told me whatever I do when I come out be focussed. Now I finally realise you can't replace yesterday or even last Saturday. You can only look to the future and live your life that way.”

Robinson is desperate to sign off with a big performance in this weekend's Unibond Premier Division home game against Durham after a heart-to-heart with Heggs.

“The gaffer is the one who has sat me down and told me I need to change,” he said. “I know I'm not going to earn �10,000 or �5,000 a week from football now - I could do from doing other things - but I choose not to go down that route. The gaffer has shown me I can earn a decent, honest, living and enjoy it.

“He's not a mate, he's not a father figure, he is just something special and I owe him. I've told him I'm prepared to go on an anger management course because I think I can control it. If I don't and the demons get the better of me I'll just stop playing and try to do something else within football.”

Heggs had already confirmed Robinson will not be paid during his suspension but the Linnets' player/boss is now stepping up his striker search.

“I've told him that and we'll also have to probably re-negotiate the deal he is on for less money when he does come back,” said Heggs. “He was in tears on Sunday because he wants to play for King's Lynn. Maybe I should get rid of him and if I thought that was in the best interests of the club I would do.

“I'm as ruthless as they come but I still see him playing a big part and I will live and die by my decisions. If we are losing 1-0 to Ashton and he comes on and scores two goals then I'm the best manager since sliced bread. If I throw him on in that game, he gets sent off, and we lose 4-0 then I'm a nobody. He's scored something like 10 goals in 11 odd starts - but he knows its last chance saloon.”

Read Mark Hearle's exclusive club column every Thursday only on edp24.co.uk/sport