Stuart Pearce has been reflecting on an action-packed 1-0 win over Shanghai Shenhua, which saw the Blues hold on to the lead with 10 men during the closing stages.
Ben Thatcher was sent off for his second bookable offence after it appeared that his foot had been stamped on by a Shanghai player 12 minutes from time, but the Manager was unable to give an opinion on it.
“I was going down to the dug-out from my position in the stands, and I did not see the sending-off at all,” said Pearce.
More bizarre was an incident in the second half when Antoine Sibierski was prevented from coming on as a substitute by a Chinese official, seemingly because of the wristband that the Frenchman was wearing.
“It’s a bit of a mystery why that happened because Antoine was wearing the wristband that about seven of Shanghai’s players were also wearing out on the pitch. I’m sure it will all be resolved before Sunday,” Pearce commented.
As to the game itself, settled by Samaras’ first-half strike, Pearce felt his side had had a more-than-useful work-out.
“We played at a high tempo, it was a good test of us and overall the match was a good examination for us. Obviously it was not ideal to down to 10 men.”
