Aston Villa striker John Carew has broken his silence over reports that he was fined for visiting a strip bar last week.

"I wasn't at the strip club. The whole thing is a misunderstanding," Carew told the Birmingham Mail. "I'd had the flu and I was 100 per cent sure I wasn't going to play on Thursday. That's why I went out for dinner.

"I would never have taken a meal in town if I knew I was going to play the match."

O'Neill spoke with Carew over the weekend and admitted the player claimed 'mitigating circumstances'.

But Carew was fined all the same and accepts he cannot afford a repeat in future.

"We talked about it and I don't think it will happen any more," added Carew. "I had dinner in an Italian restaurant together with a female friend of mine.

"Afterwards we went to a bar next to it.

"The bar has the same entrance as this club which is referred to in the newspapers.

"Instead of going to the Rocket Club we went into the quiet bar next to it. There were three or four other people there. I had a Pepsi before we left."