Davies: I was'nt sent off

Billy Davies
By pnefans.co.uk
March 10 2005

Billy Davies today confirmed that he was'nt sent off at this weekends fiery game at Upton Park. But he left the touchline to help defuse a heated situation.

After several newspapers reported that Davies had either been sent off or escorted down the tunnel by police Billy Davies tells us exactly what did happen saying:

"I was neither sent away by the referee or led away by the police, I left the field of play of my own accord,"

"There was an awful lot of abuse being directed at the Preston North End staff in the technical area. I believe that the police eventually removed a gentleman from his seat because of the amount of abuse that he was giving out. I just felt that at that point it was necessary to try and diffuse the situation with only three or four minutes of injury time left to play.

"I think we need better protection for away managers and away staff after what happened at the weekend. It is definitely something we have to look at, I was at a meeting with League Managers Association last week and it was one of the points that was being talked about. The lack of protection to away staff, as was the case at West Ham, I felt that is was necessary to diffuse the situation by taking myself away from the dugout and into the dressing room."