Sunderland boss Paolo di Canio's preparations for yesterday's draw at Southampton were marred by an incident on Friday night.
The Mail on Sunday says Di Canio was involved in a late-night altercation on Friday night at the hotel Sunderland were staying at ahead of the 1-1 draw against Southampton.
Police have launched an investigation into an assault at the Solent Hotel & Spa in Whiteley, after Di Canio and two members of his staff were confronted.
It is alleged that three 'drunk' men tried to stop their lift as they headed to the third floor to their rooms to go to bed. They pushed them away, and the men attacked them verbally.
Di Canio said: "There were no footballers and no fight. This is the real situation of what happened.
"It was three young drunk guys. We got into the lift and then were taking photos with their camera and stopped the lift. We weren't aggressive and they took advantage of the fact that we weren't aggressive.
"We pushed them away. They attacked us verbally. It was us who called the police. Two of the three ran away. One remained.
"The police arrived after about 15 or 20 minutes - and for two hours I was speaking to a policeman. I don't know if he loves me. I went to bed at 2am. I wanted to go at midnight."
