Tugay, on as a substitute for the injured Robbie Savage, found himself shown two yellow cards within the space of three second half minutes and became the first Blackburn player to shown a red card this campaign in the 1-0 home defeat of Manchester City.

Rovers boss Mark Hughes had no complaints about referee Mike Dean's decision.

"The first one Tugay pulled his shirt (Emile Mpenza) and you know you are going to get a booking for that.

"Then for the next one to come in quick succession (Dietmar Hamann) whether it is mistimed or not then you are likely to get a second yellow card.

"He's disappointed; we were disappointed at the time as it wasn't what we needed at that moment.

"We coped and his team mates showed they wanted to get the job done."