COLCHESTER United defender Brian Wilson insisted that his team-mate Magnus Okuonghae should not have been sent off during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Rochdale.

COLCHESTER United defender Brian Wilson insisted that his team-mate Magnus Okuonghae should not have been sent off during Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Rochdale.

U’s boss manager John Ward had no complaints with Okuonghae’s red card, which turned the game on its head.

But Wilson did not agree with his boss.

The Essex visitors were 2-0 up and coasting when Okuonghae was dismissed for a professional foul on Rochdale winger Jean-Louis Akpa Akpro on the half-hour mark.

Wilson was close to the incident – Akpa Akpro was tripped as he homed in on goal – and he gave his opinion after the match.

“It was sickening to go down to 10 men,” explained Wilson.

“Personally I didn’t think it was a sending-off. I thought that I had covered enough.

“Ben Williams was out anyway and if he (Akpa Akpro) did get around Ben, I was there to cover the line, so I thought it should only have been a yellow card.

“For the first 20 minutes we looked brilliant. We looked comfortable and with 11 men I think we would have won the game by four or five goals.

“We are playing some great stuff at the moment,” added Wilson, who operated as a makeshift centre-half in the second-half due to an injury to Matt Heath.

By contrast, U’s boss Ward said of Okuonghae’s sending-off: “I have no complaints.

“It looked like it was a sending-off to me. He was the last man, he got caught, wrapped around him, and I was not surprised by the red card.”