No intent in Mark Noble’s challenge

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini said he couldn’t comment on Mark Noble’s sending off the incident as he hadn’t seen a video replay.

However, he did reveal that the captain told him there was no intent  and that he was only trying to get to the ball,  possibly just late.

Pellegrini told reporters at the post-match press conference after the Leicester City draw with West Ham “I haven’t seen the action yet, so I can’t give an opinion but, as I always say, these things happen.

The referee, you must accept his decision but at this moment I cannot say too much. Mark told me he didn’t go in with bad intentions, he tried to get the ball. Maybe he arrived late but I can’t speak about it.”

The West Ham skipper now faces a three-match ban and replays show an appeal is extremely unlikely.