Boss Mick McCarthy has revealed that winger Lee Martin faced disciplinary action from the club for his sending off at Nottingham Forest last week. The 26-year-old received his third red card while wearing Town colours after clashing with Henri Lansbury during the first half of the Blues’ 1-0 defeat at the City Ground.
McCarthy says he has talked to the former Manchester United man and that players in his situation face unspecified sanctions from the club: "I’ve spoken to him about it, I wouldn’t tell you what I’ve spoken to him about or what I’ve said. But I have spoken to him, of course.
"There’s a disciplinary code of conduct and there are rules in place if you get sent off, and there’s disciplinary action taken.
"And he’s accepted that, he’s come in and apologised, said he was wrong. But listen, I’m a bloke who was sent off nine times, all completely unjust! I managed it in every country I played in as well. I obviously didn’t learn after the seventh one!
"But I think you can understand me and Lee Martin are somewhat different. You could see me [as a centre-half] getting sent off, couldn’t you?”
The Town boss says Martin should learn not to react when wound up by the opposition and that last week’s dismissal was particularly disappointing as the midfielder had been one of the Blues’ top performers up to then: "Players do things. And you know what, what was really galling was how well he was playing. He was terrific.
"He could have had a penalty, he got us the freekick, all those things, and Lansbury’s stood on him, he knelt on him, he stood on the back of his leg, snidey, horrible things that happen, but you just have to think, ‘Well, I’ll get my chance’. That’s the way it is. Don’t react. Especially not with the referee stood next to you.”
Martin, whose Town red card total is only surpassed by Fabian Wilnis's four, while Sito, Pablo Couñago and Alex Bruce have also been dismissed three times, served the first game of his three-match ban at Peterborough United on Saturday.