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Soccer News of Sunday, 21 December 2008

Source: SKY

Fulham boss forces Paintsil to apologise

Fulham boss Roy Hodgson has disciplined John Pantsil and forced him to apologise after his play-acting antics to get Stoke striker Ricardo Fuller sent off last weekend.

The Ghanaian right-back flung himself theatrically to the ground after going head-to-head with Fuller in the second half of the 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium.

Fuller described Pantsil's actions as 'disgraceful' and Hodgson has echoed the views of the Stoke striker.

The Fulham boss, whose side host Middlesbrough on Saturday, has told the 27-year-old there is no place for cheating in his side, insisting another blatant example of gamesmanship will not be tolerated.

Mistake "I didn't like it," Hodgson told the Daily Mail. "We have spoken about it and the action we have taken has been internal.

"He knows how I feel about it - I didn't like how he over-reacted to the foul. I think he now regrets the situation, although he was the one who was knocked over.

"Has he apologised? Yes, he accepted the criticism that this is not what I expect him or any other Fulham player to do.

"He should be apologising to the player who was almost sent off, and I am only glad that didn't happen as then I would be feeling a lot worse about it than I do.

"We have to give referee Stuart Attwell a lot of credit for not over-reacting to the situation."