Mark Hughes, the Stoke City manager has finally confirmed that club captain and defensive stalwart Ryan Shawcross was indeed cautioned during the half time in their encounter against Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend.
The Potters defender was involved in a bust up with Manchester United front man Robin Van Persie during the dying moments of the first half, just after Stole had retaken their lead and their verbal continued as the two sides made their way down to the tunnel at half time.
When the verbal bout didn’t show any signs of stopping after the two sides went into the tunnel, referee Lee Mason decided to take action against the Stoke player and cautioned him in their dressing room. According to reports, the referee entered into the Stoke City dressing room and cautioned the player for the part he played in the exchange with the England defender also grabbing United’s Dutch striker by the neck at the blow of the half time whistle.
And Hughes, who witnessed his side go down 3-2 after taking the lead on two occasions stated that he was completely baffled by what he saw. The Welshman reportedly stated that he was even unaware that a player could be cautioned inside the dressing room during the break as well.
Speaking to a media outlet, Hughes stated that Ryan Shawcross was indeed shown a yellow card in dressing room. He went on to add that the referee made it a point to knock on the Stoke City dressing room and book him and he mentioned that he has no idea why.
He also stated that he might have pushed Van Persie but couldn’t be sure because he didn’t see the incident and also stated that he hasn’t seen anyone get booked inside the dressing room.