Phil Thompson has issued an apology after refusing to shake the hand of Sunderland's Bernt Haas after the Reds' 1-0 Premiership win.
Liverpool stay on top of the Barclaycard Premiership table after the win – a rare goal from Emile Heskey after 22 minutes claiming the points.
Haas was the player on the receiving end of Dietmar Hamann's two-footed lunge that saw the German international dismissed in the 43rd minute and Sunderland's Swiss star appeared to make the most of the incident - infuriating both the Liverpool players and management team.
Thompson brushed Haas aside at the end of the game - but once his temper had calmed he spoke about what had happened.
The stand-in manager said: "I should have accepted his hand and I am sorry that I didn't, I was very emotional, passions were running high.
"I felt sorry for Didi and I got a bit carried away at the end. I apologise for that."
Thompson felt aggrieved at the treatment of Hamann and stated that the rules should be more clearly defined with regard to such challenges.
He said: "If I am told that every two-footed tackle is going to be a red card then okay I will accept that.
"But Didi connected with the ball and there was only a minimal connection with the player. I was disappointed.
"His feet made contact with the ball, there was no malicious intent to do anyone any damage. I just felt that Didi was unfortunate, particularly as we will now miss him for three matches."
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