Owain Tudur Jones says sorry for headbutt sending off

INVERNESS Caledonian Thistle manager Terry Butcher has revealed how midfielder Owain Tudur Jones had apologised to staff and supporters after his red card for a headbutt against Kilmarnock. But Butcher denied he had read the riot act with the Wales international – admitting it would have been a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

“It is disappointing this week that we have to change the side because of Owain’s red card,” said Butcher. “He knows what happened – and feels bad. He has never been sent off or even suspended before in his career. This is the first of his career. He bitterly regrets it and it is so disappointing because he had been playing so well. I said to him you’d never catch me doing something hot-headed like that. How can I tell somebody not to do the things he has done? I didn’t have to have a go at him. He knew he had let the boys down. He apologised to the staff and to the fans.

“Like Richie Foran already has, he will miss two games and he has already started work to keep his fitness and sharpness so he is ready to return.”

Tudur Jones will, however, be able to face Arbroath in the League Cup clash. Butcher added: “I’d already been contemplating Richie Foran coming back and wondering how I accommodated all three, including Owain and Ross Draper, in the team. It would have been a nice problem for a manager to have but now we have a simple replacement.”