I wasn't telling players to break legs - Warnock

Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock has denied accusations he told his players to hurt Reading opponents following Keith Gillespie’s sending-off in the 3-1 defeat.

Warnock was sent to the stand along with Royals coach Wally Downes in the aftermath of Gillespie’s 55th-minute dismissal after the winger thrust an arm in the face of Stephen Hunt within 20 seconds of coming on as substitute.

The Blades boss was seen to kick out a leg on the touchline and within seconds Downes had charged at him to spark a brawl that involved substitutes and other backroom staff members.

Warnock was adamant his leg-kicking had not been as sinister as it appeared - and was sure referee Mark Halsey would back him up when the inevitable Football Association disciplinary probe begins.

He said: “He was trying to say I was telling people to break legs again, which is absolutely garbage. People will think that because they want to but fortunately for me the referee heard exactly what was said and confirmed that. Fortunately for me, Mark Halsey won’t lie about what was said.

“I went like that [kicking out] to tell him that Steve Sidwell’s tackle on Chris Armstrong a few minutes before had been the worst of the whole game and he could see it on Match of the Day tonight.”

Warnock admitted he and Downes had disliked each other for years.

He said: “Wally gets a bit carried away. He was het up today, as he always is. You might say there is history between us but in the past he has been a little bit cleverer than that. He was interpreting what I was saying because he wanted to.”

Warnock had no sympathy for Gillespie however and the winger faces a fine as well as a ban.

He said: “When you lift your arm you have to get a red card. It looks worse on television but there is no excuse. He has let us down. And to make it worse he went back to him instead of going off the pitch.”

Reading manager Steve Coppell made it clear he backed Downes and would not be punishing him.

He said: “Other people can judge but I have no problem with what Wally did.

“I will make my mind up but I am certainly not going to react now. On the face of it from what I can see now I am not going to do anything, absolutely not.

“That is not to say somebody else might not.”