RLB ON HAIR-PULL RULE

Regis Le Bris has criticised the current implementation of the hair-pulling rule in the Premier League after Dan Ballard was sent off for a seemingly innocuous incident against Wolves, where absolutely nobody appealed other than the striker himself. The red card for violent conduct brings with it a three match ban - the same as a headbut - which means we won't be seeing Dan again this season.

NOT VIOLENT CONDUCT

"We understand the rule and Paul Tierney is a great referee, but the execution of the rule is very hard to digest because I don't think it is intentional and violent conduct. We don't want to be controversial, we are here to help the game, many people are watching the Premier League and we want to be clean in our behaviours, but football is football."

THESE THINGS HAPPEN

"It is a duel in the air and with a tall striker [who weighs] 100kg more or less, Ballard is massive as well, so the ball in the air 20 times in a game, many things can happen. If the rule is the rule, when you have a striker with long hair, you will have problems because you can't defend. It was more or less the case. They executed the rule, but it's a bit hard to digest."

PREP FOR NEXT GAME

"First of all, we'll see who is the striker. If he has long hair, we have a problem! If they play long, be careful and we'll see. Sometimes a handball is the same, it's probably a grey area and with this rule we are at that stage where you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations."